Sonic Forever: Children of the Atom
by Tailsmo4ever
Summary: Inspired by the works of Babylon Sky Hawk and Sonic Phantom. 20 years after Sonic and his friends rocked the world, a new generation of heroes rise up to face an old evil that is out to destroy the world once more. Welcome to the new age of heroes!
1. 20 Years Later

A/N: Ho, hum. Been a long time since you heard from me, eh? Well with college life becoming more difficult, I barely had the time to prep my stories. And with finals coming up, that's too much of a strain. So, until I have everything settled, and till I complete a few more chapters, I'll leave this chapter up for now. So anyway, this story is mainly inspired by Babylon Sky Hawk's Sonic Rush: Next Generation, but from the works of Sonic Phantom as well. There are also six guest star OCs; two of them belong to Babylon Sky Hawk, and the last four are Sonic Phantom's. Remember that now. They've also helped me with the story. Musashi the Master too. So now with special thanks out of way, without further ado, please enjoy my new story **Sonic Forever: Children of the Atom!**

Disclaimer: If you sue, what I shall do, Is go boo-hoo, and say screw you!

_After arriving back from the Twilight Cage, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends found Eggman dangerously close to his goal in controlling of the planet. The managed to storm in the newly built Robotropolis and evacuate all the people trapped in the forbidden city. And now, Sonic and Eggman were having one last face off. _

_As he lay gravely injured before the laughing Eggman, he had drawn strength from the persistent encouragement from the voices of his friends, who never lost faith in him, even when he had almost lost it in himself. As he picked himself up, he saw the seven Chaos Emeralds that were trapped in the containers. With a shout, he drew the Chaos Emeralds to him and turned super. This took Eggman by surprise, who now just realized what was happening. _

_Super Sonic gave a thumbs down. "Game over, Eggman. You lose. For good."_

_"W-wait!" Eggman pleaded. "Let's talk about this!"_

_Super Sonic ignored him as he crossed his arms in front of him and glowed with bright blue energy. With another yell, he Chaos Blasted Eggman's base in a blast of blue light. Eggman, who couldn't possibly have made it out of the base in time, was presumed dead._

That was Sonic's last battle against Eggman. Everyone could now go on with there lives. But old evils will soon return. And it will only take…

**Ch 1: 20 Years Later**

"For as long as I could remember I've lived on this dark island. My father as watched over this island before, like our father's father has. He told me that he never knew why he was chosen to be guardian; why it was his fate. Left alone on this island… forever."

Thoughts of his duty as the next Guardian of the Master Emerald ran through the head of an eighteen year old bat as he slept under the late morning sun. He had red fur with a crescent moon shape on his chest and wore combat boots. As he dozed, Jam the Bat sleepily looked towards the Master Emerald altar.

The thought of being the guardian of such a powerful entity always filled the crimson bat's heart with pride, and this was no exception. He was no echidna, but he had the blood of his ancestors flowing within his vines and took it close to his heart. He had no time to fool around with anything else, not like his sister who'd fool around and play spy. He'd never understand why she wouldn't follow her ancestors.

As he closed his eyes again, he heard a sharp noise behind him. Silently thanking his sensitive ears, he stood up and held his black and gray gloved fists to his chest. "Hey! Who are you!?" he demanded.

"Hmmm…" the unfamiliar hedgehog mumbled as he observed the bat. He was standing right on top of the Master Emerald, "So the echidna has a son now? Many years must have past then."

"Get off the Emerald! It's not some stool!" Jam shouted as he jumped into the air and dove his foot right at the hedgehog. The hedgehog grabbed the foot and threw Jam down to the stairs.

"Hey! No fair!" Jam snarled as he ran up the stairs.

"Life isn't fair, boy," the hedgehog sneered as he and the Emerald rose into the air. "Sorry, but you don't mind if I take this, do you?"

"Actually, I do!" Jam roared as he delivered a powerful kick on the Master Emerald. The force of his leg caused it to shatter instantly and the pieces to disappear.

"Damn!" the hedgehog growled, "This isn't what I expected…" With one last huff, he vanished.

The whole island began to shake. Jam froze and looked around him. "Oh no! Without the Master Emerald's power, this whole island is going to crash into the ocean!" With a deafening crash, Angel Island landed on the planet's surface, sending seismic waves across the sea. Jam flew down to the fallen island checking for any structural damage to the altar. Fortunately, there was none but that didn't stop him from groaning. "Mom and dad are gonna chew me out for this…"

* * *

Back at Central City, a fourteen year old purple hedgehog was at the docks, gazing out of the ocean. Breezy the Hedgehog was the daughter of Sonic and Amy, two of the world's greatest heroes. She had quills that were like hair reaching her waist with a single bang on her forehead and emerald eyes like her parents. She wore a blue hooded jacket with two purple spines jutting out of her back, a pink shirt, feminine jeans being supported by a white belt with pink flower designs and white legwarmers with blue wind symbols, and pink Soap sneakers with blue highlights and heels. To top it off, she also had on the headband and bracelets that her mother once wore.

Breezy would always stare at the ocean, dreaming of the adventures that she would have like her pops did when he was her age. Stories of Sonic and the 'Sonic Heroes' as people called them and their never ending struggle against the Eggman crossed all around the world, and it inspired many youngsters to try and become heroes themselves. However, none could match the kind of dreams that Breezy had. But Dr. Eggman was MIA for a while and presumed dead, so things have been pretty peaceful for the past twenty years. Luckily for her, she was about to get her wish.

"Hey, Breezy!"

The hedgehog smiled as she turned to see who called her. Two twin girls were walking up to her. They looked strange for the most part, but cute as well. That was because their mother is an alien. Daisy Prower had bright smile on her pale face. Her hair was yellow and had daisies budding out and had corsages of daisies on both of her gloves. She also wore an orange flower dress with a green gem on her chest with orange shoes. Her older sister Violet looked just the same, but she had violets instead of daisies and her blue eyes were more narrowed than her sister's. The gem on her chest was blue and her hair was shoulder length, compared to her sister's hair that reached the mid point of her back. Those two were among Breezy's best friends.

"Hey guys! Long time no see!" Breezy beamed.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Violet smiled.

"So what's shakin'?"

"Your mom and dad want to have a word with us! Let's go!" Daisy said.

"Sure!" Breezy nodded as she made an acrobatic jump off from the handrail. The handrail broke once Breezy hit the ground softly, making her wince.

"Ahh nooo! You little twerp! You broke that handrail again!" the port man yelled.

"Sorry sir! Must dash!" Breezy gulped as she grabbed both Daisy and Violet's hands and ran off in a burst of wind.

* * *

It was only a few seconds until they reached Station Square.

"Whew, that was close," Daisy panted.

"You know, one of these days your parents will chew you out for doing that," Violet frowned at Breezy.

"Nah, not a chance!" she smiled as she dusted her jacket and made a winning pose. "Anyway, what is it that they want to talk to us about?"

"Did you break the handrail again?" A very familiar voice spoke from behind.

"EEEEEE!" Breezy squealed as she turned around. "Ha… hey pops!"

Sonic didn't seem to have changed much over the years. He now wore a pair of leather gloves with black fingers, green goggles over his head, blood red Soap sneakers with black and green highlights and still had that unique bracelet on his left wrist as a memento from an old, special friend of his. He was still easily recognizable, slightly taller if at all with his quills almost reaching the ground, and still just as sure of himself as ever. It was heartening to know that some things never changed. "Breezy Hedgehog, you know you can't just break things like that," her father said as he closed his eyes and tapped his head with his index finger.

"Aw, gee pops!" Breezy pouted cutely, "It isn't mischief like people say. It's practicing to become a hero like you! Besides, it was an accident!"

"We were witnesses," Daisy piped up. Sonic was about to speak again, but then a pair of arms wrapped around his ribs.

"Come on now, love. You can't say that you never caused mischief back when we were younger," Amy Rose, his wife, smiled as she poked her head out from behind him. She was one of the few who had made some changes. She was now almost as tall as Sonic and had curves in all the right places. Her quills were much longer and reached her waist. The outfit she now wore was a red top, tight black skinny jeans and silver and white boots with heels. She also had on white gloves with black palms and gray wrist-guards. Yep, she was more attractive than before.

"Aha! You can't say that you were different now!" Breezy said proudly.

"So what did you want to talk to us about?" Violet asked.

"We're leaving for Soleanna in a few hours," Amy explained.

"Oh cool!" Can we come too?" Breezy asked eagerly.

"Sorry, guys. You'll have to stick around here," Sonic chuckled.

"Huh? Why not?" Daisy whined.

"It's an adult only thing. We can't really say much except that kids aren't allowed," Sonic continued.

"But daddy-!"

"I know your upset, but we'll do something together when we get back. That's a promise." Sonic rested a hand on Breezy's head, prompting to look up. "Look, most of your aunts and uncles are coming too, so how about you round up everyone for a slumber party?"

A smile returned to her face, "OK, I can do that! Daisy! Violet! Come on!" she and the other girls ran off.

"Hey Sonikku, you know who Breezy reminds you of?" Amy asked in a teasing tone as she wrapped an arm around his.

"Oh? Who?" Sonic smirked, knowing the answer.

"You, silly!" she giggled. "You were always ready for another adventure right after the last one."

"Yeah, but it's been pretty nice with all the peace around here," Sonic grinned, "It's been a long time since we heard from ol' Egg-In-The-Face too. Maybe he finally gave in."

Amy's eyelids lowered and her lips made a sly grin as she lifted a gloved hand and walked her fingers slowly up his chest to his face. "How about a little TLC before we leave? The kids won't be back for a while anyway…"

"I like the sound of that," he smiled as he ushered her back home. As he did, they failed to notice a glowing orange spot on the ground slowly appearing and stalking them.

* * *

"Hey freak! What are you doing here anyway?"

"Yeah! No freaks allowed!"

Milo "Gadget" Prower was shoved to the ground and his face was covered in dirt, not to mention his green fur. The kids standing around him were laughing at his misery as he struggled to pick himself up. He felt more dirt kicked at him. Why did this keep happening to him? He just came to the park to play, but the usual kids who tried to make his life miserable had managed to find him.

"Freaks like you don't deserve friends!" one of the boys called as he reared back to kick more dirt at him. Before he could do that, a huge gust of wind appeared and blew all the bullies away from him. As the violent gust came to a stop, the bullies ran away screaming.

"Gadget!" His sisters called as they ran over to help him up. "Are you alright?" Daisy asked.

"Um… yeah." He mumbled. Breezy soon joined them and helped dust off the dirt on his fur.

"I can't believe those jerkloids did this to again," she frowned as she wiped all the dirt away.

"Uh… thanks," Gadget nodded shyly.

Breezy smiled as she brought her best friend into an embrace. "So, other than those jerkloids kicking you when you were down, how's my bother-from-another-mother doing?"

"Really good Breezy!" Gadget smiled.

Breezy has always liked Gadget. They've been friends since day one. She loved the feeling of his soft, plushy fur and the flowery aroma of him whenever she cuddled him. Gadget always melted in her hugs. They were always so gentle and warm. Gadget was always cute, sweet and friendly; she could never understand why anyone wouldn't like him.

"Hey bro," Violet spoke up, "Were gonna have a party while our parents are away. We're grabbing everyone we can."

"Sounds like fun!" Gadget beamed as Breezy released him. His three tails waged with enthusiasm.

"Alright then, let's get going!" she grinned.

As the four friends traveled out of the park and back into the city, they arrived at a house in the suburbs. There, the found an orange echidna wearing some gardening clothing fixing up the yard. "Hi there, Tikal!" Breezy waved.

"Oh, hello," Tikal smiled as she looked up. "How is everything?"

"Very well, thank you," Violet answered, "Is Maria around?"

"Oh, she's training with her father. You can go inside if you like."

"Thank you ma'm," Gadget said politely.

They didn't need to go inside though. Someone was already walking out. And that someone was a black and red echidna with a towel hanging on her neck. "Oh, hey!" Maria the Echidna waved as she noticed her friends, "What brings you here?"

"Hey, Maria. You wanna do something tonight?"

"Sure, just let me grab my things."

Shadow had met Tikal in one of his visits on Angel Island. His power drew Tikal out of the Master Emerald completely by accident and that were things hit off. The one thing that enchanted him was her eyes; the looked just like that of Maria Robotnik's. So, the fell in love and got married. Then they had a daughter who wasn't immortal. They saw this as a good thing since they wouldn't want her to suffer the curse of immortally.

Speaking of daddy's little girl, Maria and Breezy were always great friends with each other. She was also very fond of Gadget, since she adored cute things. When they were young, she and Breezy would always play together happily, while their fathers watched in awkward silence… well awkward silence on Shadow's part perhaps.

"I'm ready!" Maria said as she stepped back out. Instead of that training outfit she had on earlier, she now wore a blue metallic and leather dress with gloves that had blue metal wrist-guards; they were there to keep her powers in check. On her feet were metal blue anti-gravity boots. Like Breezy, she had two black spines jutting out of her back. You could say that her dress just almost looked like that of the "Original Maria's."

"Alright, were off," Violet said.

"Okay, enjoy yourselves."

* * *

A white echidna suddenly shifted up from the seat she was leaning on and looked up. The silver cat in front of her noticed. "Something the matter, Jewels?"

"I don't know, Athena," the echidna sighed. "I just have a bad feeling… like something happened to Angel Island…."

As mentioned before, Jewels is a white female echidna and an agent of G.U.N. She wore a tight and constricting black and red bodysuit with red hearts as shoulder pads and matching boots. The zipper on her bodysuit was opened, showing her tempting cleavage. Unlike male echidnas, she did not have spikes on her fists, so she improvised by putting gold knuckledusters on her gloves. Athena is a cat with silver fur and had a green jewel on her forehead. She wore orange shorts with a yellow jersey which was covered in a closed jacket. She also had on yellow and orange zipper boots and had gloves with red markings that were the same as her father's. She too had two silver spines jutting out of her back. A closer look at her face showed a pair of dental braces on her fangs.

"Hey, don't worry girl, perhaps it's just your imagination. After all, Jam is the most experienced guardian. I'm sure everything is fine."

"Yeah, but I'd better make sure he's alright…"

"Well, if you say so."

Jewels nodded and gave a small wave before taking off into the air. When she left, Breezy came up to her in a start. "Hiya, Athena! Long time no see!"

"Hey, ay, ay!" Athena exclaimed as the hedgehog ruffled her fluffy ponytail. "Whach ya up to?"

"Well, mom and pops said that they have to leave for Soleanna soon, but we can't come."

"You too, huh?" Athena frowned, "Man, it sucks."

"I agree, but there's nothing we can do about it." Violet shrugged.

"Hey! Look up!" A man pointed to the sky.

Everyone looked up and saw what looked like flaming birds flying in the sky. It looked like they were carrying something in their talons.

"Mom! Pops!" Breezy screamed.

"They have my parents too!" Maria gaped.

"But why?" Daisy gasped.

"You guys get back to my place and fast! I'll meet you there!" Breezy frowned as she raced after the fire birds.

"Breezy! W-wait!" Gadget pleaded. But she was already out of earshot.

Breezy raced into the afternoon of the streets with her quills riding the wind. Right over her were those strange fire birds that came out of nowhere and took her parents. She didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was she would put a stop to it now!

Picking up some speed, she blasted into the traffic by swiftly maneuvering around cars and trucks. After escaping the freeway, she grabbed hold of a stop sign, ripped it off the post and began using it as a board. She went down the road, getting many odd looks from the pedestrians on the sidewalks. She slid back and forth across the street, keeping from running into the many cars. Using a pole to make a quick detour, she boarded off a wall and grinded on some rails, still keeping an eye on those things. The hedgehog soon noticed a carrier truck that was positioned up. Last chance.

Using another speed boost, Breezy went off the rails and dashed up the truck, causing her to fly high into the air. She jumped of the stop sign and stretched out her arm to get her father's foot. Closer… closer… just a little more…

But in the end, it wasn't enough. She ended up falling to the ground and landed in a dramatic pose. She slowly stood up and watched from the end of the pier as the birds head further out of the ocean until they vanished from sight. "Mom… daddy…"


	2. The Aftermath of the Parent Trap

**Ch 2: The Aftermath of the Parent Trap**

Jewels just stared at the enormous rock wall that was in front of her. Normally, when going home, she would see a nice beach with sand and palm trees... now the enormous mountain of Angel Island was rising above her... was that the Ice Cap?

"What the hell happened? How could the island just crash like this?" she murmured. "Something must have happened to the Master Emerald."

"That's right," a smooth yet grumpy voice behind her said. "I had to break the Master Emerald because YOU didn't return to guard it."

Jewels turned around to face her big bother Jam. "What did you say? You broke it? Why?"

"A strange crystal hedgehog tried to make a getaway with it," the red bat said gruffly. "It wouldn't have happened if you would have just became a guardian like you should have."

"Hang on," Jewels growled. "You may be an unsocial jerk that has no concerns except for guarding the island, but some people on Earth have something called a life, you know? If I stayed on that stupid floating rock for all my life, I would have never met my friends!"

"Perhaps that would have been better then," Jam barked back. "I think they distract you from your duties as a guardian! Our parents left the Master Emerald for us to protect it from outsiders, and now look at what happened! The island came crashing down and the Emerald got shattered!" He held up two green shards. "I was lucky to find these up to now, but as long as we don't find the others that means nothing!"

Jewels' icy blue eyes hardened into a nasty stink-eye. "You know, I may have called you, but you're too dumb to get a cell phone! Do you think I want to stay on that floating piece of rock you call an island forever!? The one thing that you failed to learn after all these years you spent alone was teamwork!" She huffed and stormed back towards the train station.

Jam looked after her with a reluctant frown. "Damn it... and the worst part is… part of me believed what she just said..."

* * *

It was a solemn mood at Breezy's house. Not only had Breezy and Maria's parents been kidnapped, but Athena and the Prower siblings' parents have vanished too. Jewels and Jam's parents have also been reported missing. Gadget was panicking awhile ago, but Daisy and Violet had managed to calm Gadget down and their little brother was currently sleeping on the younger twin's lap. Daisy scratched his ears to keep him cool. Also, Maria managed to find Omega under the quake and was currently repairing him.

"I wonder who'd want to take our parents," Violet pondered as she trotted around the living room. She had her eyes closed and arms folded. "I mean, I know that they had a lot of enemies back in the retro days, but still…"

"I'm sorry, you guys," Breezy sighed as she looked down. Her eyes were half lidded and her ears drooped, "I should'a been faster."

"Hey, don't blame yourself Breeze," Violet smiled as she turned to her, "You can't always be ready for things like that. It has been quiet for a while."

"You can't be good at everything. What are you, some kind of Mary Sue?" Athena chimed in.

"Yeah, it's all about trail and error!" Daisy added as she continued toying with Gadget's ears.

"Thanks guys," Breezy smiled.

Maria closed the control panel of the robot and began the start-up program. The robot just sat there seemingly motionless. Then a distorted sound came from the robot. Sort of like that old internet start up sound.

"....Voice box operational. Beginning start-up program 'E-123 Serial Unit Omega…'"

"Search and defrag corrupted files," Maria commanded.

"Acknowledged. Proceeding to defrag corrupted files… Process complete... proceeding to start up program 'E-123 Serial Unit Omega…'" After a few moments, the red optics of Omega glowed to life as he stood up.

"Omega! You're alright!" Maria sighed.

"Maria. I am relieved to see that you are unharmed," Omega said with no betrayal of any real emotion in his voice.

"What happened to our parents? Do you know who did this?" Athena questioned.

"It was around the some time you all left. Flame monsters appeared and ambushed Shadow, Tikal and I. Shadow managed to dispatch several but I was disengaged shortly after," he elaborated.

"Do you have any idea what those monsters were?" Breezy asked.

"I have seen them before, twenty years ago. They were known solely as Ibils' Minions."

"Ibils' Minions…?" Maria blinked. Before she could continue asking, the door slammed opened, waking up Gadget, and an irate Jewels walked in.

"I am so pissed!"

"Jewels…?" A groggy Gadget yawned as he rubbed his eyes, "What is it?"

"That stupid Jam! He just blamed me! He has no friends himself and says I should leave you all behind... And now the Master Emerald was shattered, and the island came crashing down, and all that jerk could do was yell at me."

"Hey, don't worry," Athena said as she let her in, "He was just being a jerkass. Don't let his words get to you."

"Is that right huh?" Breezy said, "They only time he'd be that upset is if-"

"Are you taking his side?!" Jewels demanded.

"Hold on. I never said that…"

"But you were about to, weren't you?!"

"No. No I'm not," the purple hedgehog continued rather calmly as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'm just trying to see Jam's point of view. Look Jewels, you're dad and my dad has known each other since they were kids, but they didn't get off to a nice start, did they?"

"Yeah," the albino echidna nodded.

"That Old Man Eggman tricked him right, it wasn't after the last minute did he, Uncle Knux, see the man behind the mirror. Basically speaking, Uncle Knuckles always protected his island no matter what, even if hit made him look like a dumbo. You do know how he always feels when something happens to it."

Jewels frowned for a little bit, but the she sighed. "Well, he was kinda right about a few things. I suppose I should have been more lineate with him."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," she continued, "I agree with you on him acting like a jerk."

"Nice save, airhead," Jewels smiled as she playful punched her arm. Breezy winced as she rubbed it; it was still a pretty strong blow. "So, where are my parents? I think they need to know what happened."

"Well…" Maria began.

"…WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'VE BEEN KIDDNAPPED?!"

"We mean that fire monsters just came out of nowhere and scooped them up," Daisy said as her ears stopped ringing. "Omega called the Ibils' Minions."

"So then some guy named Ibils ordered the kidnapping?" Jewels guessed as she calmed down.

"Who knows? But Ibils means 'Devil,' so I doubt there's anyone with that kind of name. Unless it's a cult leader of some kind," Violet shrugged.

"Hmm…" Breezy pondered as she twirled her finger in her quills thoughtfully. As she did this, there was a knocking on the door. Maria went over to answer it and some familiar characters were seen.

"We got here as fast as we could when we got the call!" Cream the Rabbit said in a hurry. She was accompanied by her fiancé Charmy, Shade, Marine and Cosmo's sisters. "What happened to Sonic and everyone else?"

"They were kidnapped by Ibils Monsters. That's as far as we know," Kagome said as she did a search on Ibils Monsters on the internet.

"Ibils Monsters, huh?" Galaxina blinked. "That's doesn't sound too good." She soon noticed, the Prower kids and formed one of her best smiles. "Hey there Little Gadget! Girls!"

"It's good to see you again Aunt Galaxina!" Gadget smiled as he ran up into her arms. The twins did the same with their other aunts.

Cream had changed over the years too. She had blossomed both physically and mentally from a six year girl to a twenty six year old woman. She was donned a sleeveless, orange dress with white shorts, and she wore fingerless grey gloves with matching boots. She also had long brown hair tied in a ponytail. Charmy's growth was noticeable as well. Black hair could be seen under his wool hat and he now had on a red jacket with matching sneakers. As for Cosmo's sisters, they had managed to survive the attack on their planet as well. Sunseed and Starla were even getting taller and Starla had cut the bangs on her head, showing that she had ruby eyes. Marine also had some changes; she was less annoying and had on Australian Outback attire, with the hat, coat, pants and boots.

"So what's up, guys?" Charmy asked. "Did you find anything on the things that took them?"

"I got jack," Athena frowned as she stood from the computer, "It's almost like it never happened."

"Really?" Daisy asked. "Well then, big sis. Looks like it's time to make like a search engine and browse."

Violet rolled her eyes before closing them. A pail light slowly appeared around her as her spirit then left her body and astral projected someplace else. Once she opened her eyes, Violet found herself standing before rows and rows of bookshelves with millions of books in them. This was the Gaia Library, containing all the information on Earth. Violet did have the information, but she couldn't access it all at once. She needed keywords to find the proper bits of information.

"Start Search. Keyword: Ibils," Violet began. Numerous groups of bookshelves began rising up and vanishing while the ones that remained were grouped closer together for easier access.

"Anything?" Sunseed asked.

"As I thought, I need another keyword," Violet responded.

"Hmm… monsters?" Maria suggested.

Violet nodded and put in the keyword. The shelves began reacting again and vanished, leaving a much smaller amount than before. Soon, there were four bookshelves worth of books left standing before Violet. "Still need to narrow it down."

"Almost all of the adventures our parents went through dealt with an apocalypse, right?" Gadget said. "How about end of the world?"

The shelves shifted again, leaving a single bookshelf gone. From one shelf, a book hovered out towards Violet's waiting hands. It was a large leather book entitled "Those Who Should Not Be Named." Violet took it and opened it up. "Aha! We have our man! It's Mephiles the Dark!"

"Mephiles?" Starla blinked.

"Years ago, Mephiles manipulated our parents so he could get the Chaos Emeralds for himself. He did it so he could rejoin with the Ibils, an artificial monster made of Hell's flame. But to get to the Ibils, he needed to provoke the then Princess of Soleanna and make her cry."

"Cry?" Galaxina blinked.

"Yes. Cry. Her very body contained the monster itself. Her tears of sorrow are the keys that allowed it to escape." When she flipped through the pages to see how this Mephiles did it, her eyes widened.

"So what did this Mephiles guy do?" Breezy asked as she folded her arms. "Prick her finger on a spinning wheel, desu?"

"Breezy…" Violet said with in a firm yet stunned voice. "He killed your father."

The answer felt like a fist in the gut for the young purple hedgehog. Her pops was murdered? Why? How? When? Everyone else but Omega was also confounded beyond belief. Maria had her hands clamped to her mouth in shock while Athena looked like she just swallowed a lemon.

"…And right in front of the princess I might add," she finished.

"He… killed Sonic?" Cream gasped.

"But if he did, then Breezy shouldn't even be here!" Shade pointed out.

"Don't worry. The princess managed to revive him with Chaos Emeralds' help," Violet reassured.

"How?" Gadget asked.

"…Huh. It doesn't say. Anyway, the reason why he was after Ibils is because he and that monster were originally one whole of Solaris the Sun God. Ibils was the body while Mephiles was the mind and spirit."

"So mayba Mephiles is goin' afta Ibils again?" Marine asked.

"That's not possible," Violet continued. "After Solaris' defeat, the princess went back in time with Sonic's help to destroy the remains of Ibils. In doing that, the whole crisis never happened."

"But somehow, Mephiles made it so that he could survive," Chrysanthemum frowned.

"But if the princess destroyed the last of Ibils, then why are his henchmen still running amok?" Jewels asked.

"Remember when I said that Mephiles is the mind and spirit of Solaris? Even with Ibils gone, he still has command over those monsters. He can create them through any body of fire."

"Now that I think of it, Uncle Sonic did say that they were going to Soleanna for something," Daisy recalled.

"Then it may have been a trap," Charmy figured out.

Violet's spirit returned from the Gaia Library and opened her eyes. "I don't know. From what Omega said, it may have been an ambush."

"So now we know the enemy and what he can do," Shade nodded. "That just about cinches it. But do you think you can handle him?"

"Don't worry, Aunt Shade," Jewels grinned. "We can take him, just like our parents did."

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Shade frowned. "I may be old chronologically, but I'm not old by far."

"I know. I just like pissing you off," she smiled.

"So I think we can wait till tomorrow to start. What should we do until then?" Maria asked.

"Well we were going to have a sleepover anyway. Why not do it?" Breezy asked.

"Sleepover? Cool!" Athena smiled.

"Sorry guys, I gotta bail," Jewels said as she walked to the door. "Jam's gonna need help with finding the Emerald Shards."

"Sure, alright," Daisy nodded. "See you later." Jewels nodded and left.

"I guess I'll have to call mom and Emerl about this," Cream said as she pulled out her cell phone.

"And Vector and Espio too," Charmy added.

"OK, kids. If you need any help, just give us a shout." Galaxina waved.

"Till next toim, mates," Marine winked as they left.

"See you later!" Maria waved back.

Some hours later, the kids, even Omega, were enjoying the sleepover with food and movies and things like that. Soon, everyone got in their pajamas and got some rest. Breezy and Gadget were left awake. Breezy was wearing her blue pajamas with pink hearts while Gadget just had on his socks.

"Hey, Breezy," Gadget asked, "Is Mephiles really as evil as Violet said? He must be if he really was able to kill your dad once."

"Don't worry," she smiled at him, "We aren't going to let some fire freak get the best of us. And I'll make sure that he gets what's comin' to him for what he did to my pops!" She giggled a bit and rubbed her nose against his. "We can do this," she continued as she pecked him on the cheek, making him blush.

"Well, good night, Breezy," Gadget yawned.

"G'd night, Gadget."

Slowly, Gadget curled up and dosed off to sleep. Breezy watched him and couldn't help but smile.

"Aww, he's just so cute while he's asleep," She giggled softly. She carefully climbed on top of him as she pulled the cover over them, placed her arms around his neck and cuddled him. In less than a few minutes, Breezy was asleep.


	3. Heat and Metal

**Ch 3: Heat and Metal**

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you," Jam sighed as he and Jewels walked through the Red Mountain, "Guarding the Master Emerald has always been the most important part of my life. Somehow... I just can't bear the thoughts of someone evil having control over its powers..."

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes," Jewels comforted him as she patted him on the back, "And I'm sorry for snapping too. I know how important the Master Emerald is to you."

"Thanks sis," Jam smiled. "So, were you able to find our mom and dad?"

"Well, the thing is that they've been kidnapped with everyone else. Aunt Cream, Uncle Charmy, Aunt Marine, Aunt Shade and Aunt Cosmo's sisters are left," Jewels admitted.

"You serious?" the red bat gasped. "You know who did it?"

"According to Violet, it was an old big bad named Mephiles the Dark. He actually managed to kill Uncle Sonic once," she explained.

"No way," Jam gaped with eyes wide.

"Yeah, but we can handle it, right?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

The bother and sister took off and flew deeper into the night of the mountains. As they were flying, their Chaos Senses began to act up.

"Well what do you know?" Jam smiled as he eyed a small mountain side. He glided closer with Jewels in tow. Both of them landed and began walking forward. But they didn't get within ten seconds when fire suddenly appeared before them and manifested into fire monsters.

"So these are the Ibils Monsters," Jewels observed.

"Look's like they wanna fight," Jam grinned as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's not disappoint them."

"Yeah, but let's not use our fire attacks on them. May not be wise."

"Loud and clear."

With loud gurgling, the monsters charged at the bother and sister. Jam sidestepped from one of the monster's fist to the ground and slammed his leg at its face. The force of the attack caused it to fall on its back. Jam used an ax kick to snuff it out of existence. Another monster lunged from behind him, but he turned around and sent a roundhouse kick to send it flying. Jam grinned as he watched it fall into the abyss.

Meanwhile, Jewels was doing pretty good as well. The monsters were shooting fire at her, the echidna twisted and cartwheeled out of the way. With her knuckledusters bearing form her fists, she hit the first monster with a three hit combo, killing it. Then she dove at the next one and sent a powerful cross punch to knock it out of reality. The other one tried to attack, but was it by a flying rock and vanished. Jewels glanced at her brother.

"You doin' alright?"

"Heh, why so altruistic all of a sudden?" Jewels chided playfully, "You know I can take care of myself."

"Hey, I can do whatever I want," he shrugged. "Here comes more!"

Jewels turned to were he pointed and saw more Ibils Monsters charging to attack. But their ambush was cut short but laser shots that sniped them. The siblings turned up and found some mysterious attack robots that landed in front of them.

"I don't think they're G.U.N. robots," Jewels glared.

"What was your first clue? The fact that they're now aiming at us?" Jam said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Jam. Look's like they're picking a fight with us too; let's take care of them first."

As soon as they were in position, the machines opened fire and caused them to scramble. Jewels flew at the tank machine and slammed both fists into it. The sheer force made it fly into some other robots and into another mountain peak and explode. Another machine came spinning at her with the deadly blades flying. She jumped on top, slammed her fist inside and pulled out some circuitry. She jumped off just as it crashed.

Jam was holding his own against a sword wielding robot. As it brought down the sword, he sidestepped. The bat sent a knee at the bot's abdomen, reeling it down. Then he slammed both fists at the back and kicked it to more robots.

"This is getting on my nerves!" Jewels growled as she raised a fist into the air. _"Stone Temptation!"_ she called as she slammed it down and sent a shockwave to destroy the other robots around them.

"Wow. Nice one," Jam applauded.

"Now, where is that Emerald Shard?" Jewels wondered as she went to another spot. She began digging into the ground, and after a couple of moments, she pulled out a green shard.

"Sweet, that makes three Emerald Shards!" Jam grinned. He reached out to take it from Jewels, but the albino echidna held it out of reach.

"I might not be a guardian, but I can hold this just as easily as you," his sister said plainly.

Jam narrowed his eyes. If there was one thing he enjoyed, it was holding a precious gem in his hands, especially if it was a Chaos Emerald. He was robbed of this now, and it vexed him.

"Come on, there must be another shard some… huh? Jam, do you sense that?"

"Yeah. It's like the next shard is moving.

"Come on, let's have a look see."

The pair took off into the air again and flew higher into the mountain range. The more they flew, the more wild their Chaos Senses got. As they reached a cliff edge, the heard a chopper approaching. Sure enough, the saw a helicopter, appearing from bellow the cliff. The door on the side opened and showed a green duck wearing black and red gloves, a red bandana and red and white sneakers. "Hey! You're the guys who wrecked our toys, aren't ya?"

"What?" Jewels blinked, "So those were your robots? What are you trying to do?"

"Doing what we do best! Treasure hunt!" he showed them a green shard. "We managed to find this little dollar sign in the volcano."

"The fourth Master Emerald piece!" Jam gasped. "Give that back! It's ours to take!"

"Huh, so you have some shards of your own. How bout this? Loser gives up all!" the duck challenged, "Moana let's do it!"

"Roger that, Bean!" a female voice said from the cockpit.

No sooner then that happened, the helicopter began launching missile after missile at them. Jewels and Jam began jumping around to avoid each attack. As Jewels got enough distance, her fist began to burn with fire as she launched flaming fists at helicopter. Unfortunately, the flames didn't do all that much.

"Bombs away!" Bean shouted as he began throwing bombs at them. Each bomb exploded as they hit the ground, making the bother and sister recoil from each attack. Then the helicopter began shooting machine guns at them, making them run from plasma fire.

"This ain't good!" Jam growled as they got some more space, "This thing doesn't seem to be fazed from fire, and our earth attacks defiantly won't work!"

"Maybe it has some kind of weak spot. Or perhaps something else may work against it," Jewels wondered.

"Well, what are we suppose to do?"

"Shut it. I'm thinking…"

"Hey, if guys are done, maybe we can still do this!" Bean shouted as he continued to throw his bombs.

"I got it!" Jewels smiled as they jumped from another blast. "Throwing the bombs back at them should really catch them off guard!"

"Gotcha!" Jam nodded as he raced for a falling bomb. He jumped, grabbed it and threw it back at the helicopter.

"What the?" Bean gaped as he saw one of his bombs flying right back. The bomb hit the side of the chopper and exploded, causing some damage.

"Bean! What was that all about!" Moana's voice demanded.

"Shoot! Their using our ammunition! Give them a taste of the arrow heads!" Bean shouted.

"Roger!" One missile was launched and began rushing at Jewels and Jam. The two stood their ground as the warhead homed in on them with deadly accuracy.

"Ready?" Jam began.

"Now!" Jewels signaled as the missile nearly reached them. The pair grabbed the missile with their super strength and forced it back to the chopper. It struck the tail before the chopper could leave, making fire erupt from there.

"Whoa! We've taken damage!" Moana panicked.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Bean shouted as they flew of into the night, not minding that he dropped the shard. Jam walked up to it and picked it up, grinning.

"That wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, but I wonder who those guys were?" Jewels wondered as she looked at the direction were the chopper flew off. "They probably thought it was some other kind of jewel. I don't think they realize how deep this is."

"Well, I don't think that it'd be the last well here of them," Jam glared.

"Oh, yeah. Better believe it." Her cell phone rang from her belt. She took it and answered. "Yes? Jewels here... Hey, hey, slow down! What happened?... I see. I'll be on my way." She turned off her phone and tossed her Emerald Shard to Jam. "You think you can handle the search yourself?"

"Hey, you know me. But what was that all about?" Jam questioned.

"That was my superior. Someone managed to break into the G.U.N. Fortress and take some valuable data."

"What? Just who could be skillful enough to break into that facility?"

* * *

Several G.U.N. soldiers hurried through the base in search of the trespasser. "He must be somewhere around here," the captain told his men. "Find him!"

After searching through several areas of the base, the soldiers met up with them with a C-Rank unit. "Did you find him yet?" the captain asked one of the subordinates.

"No, sir," the lower rank soldier said.

"Keep searching! We cannot terrorists like him run loose with such information! There may not have been a war since Eggman's defeat, but we can't relax because of it! You heard the Commander… failure is not an option!"

"R-right away, sir," the private saluted.

As they ran deeper into the base, they failed to notice a pale cupid face with blue glowing eyes peering through a vent.

His narrowed blue eyes followed their trail before vanishing into the nothingness of the shadows.


	4. Get Started

**Ch 4: Get Started**

Sonic groaned as he slowly lifted him self up from the ground. He swore as he held his hand to his forehead. He looked around and found himself in some kind of transparent bubble cell. He glanced to his right and found his wife unconscious. "Amy!" he gasped as he got to her side and held her close. "Amy, you alright?"

Amy slowly awakened and looked at him, "What… happened…?"

"Those were Ibils' Minions that captured us," Shadow's voice rang through the area, "But how could that be? They shouldn't be here."

"Shadow! Tikal!" Sonic gasped as he and Amy glanced to the bubble cell on their right. "You too?"

"So those were the Ibils Monsters that Shadow once spoke of," Tikal gasped. "I hope Omega escaped."

"I'd recognize those flaming freaks anywhere," Amy frowned.

"Sonic? Shadow? Is that you?" another voice asked.

"Tails?" Knuckle's voice called. "So they got you and Cosmo too?"

"Don't forget about us," Silver's voice rang out, "We're here too!"

Tails and Cosmo had grown up over the years. His fur was in a darker yellow and he now wore red and white Soaps with goggles over his head. He also wore a vest with his insignia on the back. Cosmo had longer emerald hair with the flowers in her hair fully bloomed. She wore an updated version of her flower dress (you know the one). Silver had a pair of new grey and green boots and still wore his gloves. Blaze was a practically a queen now but she did not like to flaunt her royalty. Instead of royal robes that she wore when she was fourteen, she now had on an opened purple jacket with a tie-dye shirt and jeans and still wore her pink heels. She also had her hair down full time. Knuckles had on a new pair of fighting gloves and had on his version of the Soaps. There was also a scar that ran across his face, from the side of his forehead to the side of his jaw. Rouge had on a white long sleeved shirt with the buttons slightly opened, show her chest slightly, and black pants with boots. Around her neck, a gold chain held a tiny heart shaped shard of the Master Emerald. Shadow and Tikal seemed to be the only ones that didn't change too much, mainly because they were immortal. Although Shadow's anti-gravity boots seem to be a bit worn from all the years of working for G.U.N., and he now sported red goggles on his head. They all found their cells some feet over the floor with some kind of tube connecting them. There was also a strange black and gold mechanism that they could not decipher. Not that it mattered, anyway.

"Well, I'm glad that everyone is unharmed," Blaze said.

"You think those monsters got the kids too?" Rouge asked.

"I surely hope not," Cosmo responded fearfully.

"Now for the million dollar question…" Sonic began, "Where the hell are we?"

"Gee, I was wondering when you would say that," a dark voice said sarcastically.

"What? That voice…!" Shadow gasped as he gritted his fangs.

"That's right Shadow," the voice continued as a dark flare appeared below them. "Like the fleas in our fur, I just come back!" As the dark flare vanished, a hedgehog that they knew all too well appeared before them. He looked like Shadow, but with crystal fur. His eyes were demonic red with green irises.

"MEPHILES!" They all shouted.

"But how! We killed you! More importantly, Elise blew out Ibils' flame! You shouldn't be here!" Silver shouted.

"And even after all of that, you still can't dispose of me," Mephiles scratched his chin as he looked at his rather older adversaries. "Although, it looks like all of you are passed your prime. More than ten years must have passed. No wonder capturing you was too easy."

"Enough of this! This time I'll kill you myself!" Shadow shouted as he gently got Tikal behind him and made his hands glowed, _"Chaos Spear!"_ he shouted as he sent his attack to break the bubble. Unfortunately, the bubble absorbed the Chaos Attack and erupted a painful vibration that forced them to scream and cover their ears as they crouched down.

"What… what is this?" Shadow demanded as the ringing slowly dispersed.

Mephiles could only laugh, "Have you forgotten, Shadow? I may be Solaris in a way, but I am also your dark side. I know everything about you; that includes what you are capable of."

"What is this stuff?" Sonic asked as he banged on the strange cell.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Mephiles said gleefully, "It is called: Anti-Chaos Energy."

"Anti-Chaos Energy?" Tikal questioned.

"It was a gift from someone who analyzed Positive and Negative Chaos Energy to see what truly makes it tick. This energy was created to posses a unique power that no Chaos Emerald had. In another words, Anti-Chaos Energy can virtually repel Chaos Energy. The amount is finite, but this is very useful if I do say so myself."

"What are you trying to do this time?" Blaze glared.

"I'm not at liberty to tell you that," Mephiles yawned, "Just know that I no longer have you to worry about."

"If you're planning on using Ibils' Minions, you'll run out of luck soon!" Amy shouted. "Those things are made of mostly fire, and everyone knows what happens to fire when it hits water!"

"I suppose you are right," he nodded as he stretched out his arm and made a scroll appear in a dark mist. "But I always come prepared. If Ibils' Minions fail the job, then I'll just call on the Army of Darkness."

"Army of Darkness?" Rouge blinked.

"Oops. Looks like I said too much. Please excuse me," Mephiles chuckled as he walked away.

"Any ideas?" Knuckles asked.

"I hate to say it, but this Anti-Chaos Energy has us trapped," Shadow growled as he folded his arms, "I can't even feel it."

"I wonder if Breezy and the others have wind of this," Sonic wondered miserably. "Sure they can virtually do the same things we can, but I they don't have enough experience for it!"

"Relax Sonic. They're the same age we were when we had to fight Eggman on a dally basis. I'm sure this will be no different," Amy said as she pushed her husband down gently and began stroking his fur as she leaned in against him, sending soft shivers down his spine. Slowly, he calmed down. "For now, the best thing we can do is wait…"

* * *

Gadget awoke in a warm embrace, one that he didn't really want to wake up from. As he slowly opened his eyes, and found himself facing the female hedgehog. His face turned bright red as she woke up and smiled beautifully at him. "Morning, Gadget. You sleep well?"

"Uh, yeah," He nodded as they got up.

"Ah, so you're both up now?" Violet said as she walked in with her usual outfit. "Well, hurry up and get dressed. After breakfast we're headed to our workshop to test what you can do."

"Sure, sure. Be right there," Breezy nodded.

Breezy and Gadget got freshened up, dressed, and ate the breakfast that Maria prepared. After that, they hopped on the train station and headed to Mystic Ruins. As they reached their destination, Maria gasped, "Oh my!"

"What?" Athena asked.

"I just realized, I always go to the Chao Gardens at this time of day."

"Well, just hurry back," Violet shrugged.

"Excuse me!" she bowed before her dreadlocks glowed in blue light. _"Chaos Control!"_ As she said this, she vanished in a flash.

"Why are we here?" Breezy asked.

"We need to test our powers and skills," Violet noted as she place her hands on her hips. "Our parents have been on the job for a long time. We have no experience whatsoever."

"We can handle it," Athena said confidently.

"Good to hear that," Violet smiled.

A sharp noise erupted behind them. They turned around and saw the echidna girl with her back turned. "Hey! This isn't the Gardens!"

"Looks like you messed up again, Maria," Breezy snickered.

Maria turned around and blushed beet red. She still had limited control with Chaos Control, and could only use it right with a Chaos Emerald in hand, "I'm so sorry!" she bowed before vanishing in another flash.

They walked to the workshop and got to the training room. There, Breezy was at the danger grid, warming up and stretching her legs. The others were in the watching room. Daisy was hooking Omega up to the computer to look into his memory banks for an action stage for Breezy to try.

"Here's one!" Daisy smiled as she brought up a beach stage on the screen. "It's Seaside Hill! I love that place so much! I always go there when I get the chance."

"Hey, nice choice," Breezy grinned as she waved. "OK, let it rip, desu!"

"You ready for this, Breeze?" Athena asked over the intercom.

"Yep," she said as she brought out a dark yellow Emerald. "I got my pops' old Copy Emerald to show off my powers. I'm surprised it still works though…"

"Alright, good. Let's see what you got," Violet smiled. "Gadget, start the program."

Gadget nodded as he went to the computer and began to start it up. There was a dial that that determined the difficulty level. The levels were labeled from 1 to 7. The higher levels were labeled as 'Extreme Danger', 'Eternal Engine', 'ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING!' and _**'WTF? o_O'**_. (The last one was Sonic's, obviously.) He typed in the commands, twisted the knobs and placed his hand on the switch. "Training program in 5…4…3…2…1…Launch!" And he pulled down.

The world around Breezy began to shimmer and twist around her. She almost felt like she was traveling into another world. After a few moments, she found herself at the starting point of the holographic version of Seaside Hill.

"Way past cool!" she smiled. "It almost looks just like it! You guys outdid yourselves!"

"The objective of this stage is the reach the Goal Ring as fast as you can," Gadget said over the intercom. "Are you up to it?"

"Do you realize who you're talking too?" Breezy said as she grinned sassily, "I'm the daughter of the World's Greatest Athlete! The Legendary Azure Wind! The name's Breezy with a Y! Breezy the Hedgehog, the Amethyst Cyclone: the fastest girl in the universe!"

"Well, aren't you the confident one!" Daisy laughed.

"Let's just hope this doesn't go to her head," Violet quipped.

"Alright then!" Gadget said as a counter appeared before Breezy. The hedgehog got into a running start position. "Ready?… Action!"

Breezy dashed off as soon as the counter hit zero. To the naked eye, she was a speeding purple blur. After she went through the turns and loops, she encountered the first set of enemies. "Egg Pawns?" she wondered as she saw them turning around. "Too easy." She moved her hand up and twitched her finger in a "come here" gesture. The Egg Pawns charged with their weapons drawn, but none of them were any match for her speed. Each of the Egg Pawns fell and exploded to her Homing Spin attack. Jumping up to a cliff, she ran into more Egg Pawns, this time armed with pistols.

"Alright, let's see what I can do!" Breezy smirked as she tapped into the Copy Emerald's power, _"Boomer Breeze!"_ She sent out a purple, spinning wind blade to slice each of the robots that came here way. She soon noticed another pack of robots coming up behind her, so she snapped her fingers and yelled out, _"Tornado Hold!"_ A purple cyclone appeared around the robots and blew them away into the sea.

Continuing on, she raced off deeper into the beach, making short work to any robot that came in her way. When she jumped to a cliff, she accidentally slipped and was about to fall. _"Tornado Jump!"_ she called as a small tornado appeared over to give her an air boost. With that over with, she continued on.

As she raced closer to the end, she went into a sonic boom, blasting away all the rocks that she was met with. As she got to the last area, she found herself facing a large number of robots.

"Desu," she smiled as she twisted her arms around, _"Aerosmith!" _She summoned many huge tornados all over the area. None of the robots stood a chance as they were either blown away or destroyed. Laughing, Breezy made her way to the goal ring, ending the level.

"Not bad," Violet said as the room went back to the way it was. "That gives you Rank A."

"Rank A?" she said as she came out and rubbed her nose, "I was hoping for Rank S. Oh well."

"Alright, Athena. Your turn," Daisy said.

"Sure," she nodded as she went to the danger grid.

"Alright, for you its White Jungle," Daisy said as she brought it up on screen.

"Roger!" Athena said she gave the thumbs up.

"Gadget, do it," Violet commanded.

"Got it!"

Same as before, the room twisted around until Athena was in the virtual, snowy grounds of White Jungle. "Wow, Breezy wasn't joking! Everything here is almost real!"

"The objective is the same as before. You have to reach the Goal Ring as fast as you can. Ready?" Gadget told her.

"All set," Athena nodded.

The counter appeared before her as she got into a running start position. "Ready?… Action!"

The silver cat raced off as soon the counter hit zero. She wasn't as fast as Breezy, but boy was she fast. She raced into the snow forest with her boots sinking in the muddy snow. After going through the loops for some time, she reached some G.U.N. robots.

"Those robots are hostel! Watch out!" Daisy warned.

"I got this," Athena nodded as a ring of fire appeared around her. Unlike her mother, she could summon flames mentally. The fire morphed into balls and flew at robots, destroying them one by one.

"Didn't even break a sweat!" she smiled as she continued on.

As she raced up some branches, she noticed some flying robots over a gap. She could have easily hovered over to the other side with either pyrokinesis or psychokinesis, but they were in her way. So she had too use Homing Spin to destroy the robots while getting there. As she pressed on, she saw a huge robot coming down on her. She jumped from the fist and began to produce psychic energy in her hands.

"_Psycho Ball!"_ she yelled as she shot out a red ball at the robot. It did a bit of damage, but with two more Psycho Balls, it was trashed.

Getting deeper into the jungle, she fought off some more robots that came her way. She either crushed them with her psychokinesis or burned them with her pyrokinesis. As she reached the last area, she found herself outnumbered with many robots. Athena grinned as balls of fire and psycho energy formed around her.

"_Fire Psycho Crash!" _she yelled as she unleashed everything she had all over the area. None of the robots stood a chance against the attack of fire and psychic energy. After that was done with, she raced to the Goal Ring, ending the level.

"Pretty good, you got Rank A, too," Violet said as the room went back to normal.

"That's good enough for me," Athena smiled as she made her way back.

"Now the only one left is Maria. She isn't back yet, though," Daisy said.

"Well, let's go get her," Breezy responded.

* * *

Maria must have lost some time during her stay at Chao Gardens. But she could help herself, she just loved Chao. It must be because of the fact that she was her mother's daughter. Every time she came here, she would always sit near the lake and the Chao would come to greet and play with her. It always put a smile on her face and brought a squeal from her throat whenever she saw something cute.

"Maria! Hey!" a voice called behind her.

Maria turned around and saw her best friend Molly walking up to her. "Molly, hi! Good to see you again!"

Molly was a human girl around the same age as Maria. She had blue eyes and red hair that went up in a short ponytail. She had on a blue shit with a blue vest and wore blue jeans with red sneakers. She was like Maria in more ways than one.

"I saw the news and heard about our parents' disappearance," Molly said as she sat down next to her, allowing the Chao to crawl up to her legs. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Maria reassured, "We'll find them."

"Still, I wonder if that has anything to do with the queen's disappearance," Molly wondered.

"What was that?" Maria blinked.

"Didn't you hear? Just hours before the Soleanna Festival and moments after your parents were kidnapped, the queen vanished too. Everyone there is searching hard for her but they had no luck so far. You think who ever took your parents also took the queen too?"

"Now that you mention it…" Maria said as she tapped her chin, "The perpetrator did have ties with her once. Well, maybe if we find our parents, we'll find the Queen of Soleanna too."

"Well, I'll be rooting for you guys," Molly smiled.

"Thanks, Molly," Maria smiled back, "You're such a great friend."

Suddenly, the fire erupted far from their area, causing them to look up and the Chao to scatter in fear. As soon as the fire erupted, they morphed into the frightening forms of Ibils' Minions.

"Wh… what is…?" Molly gasped with eyes widened.

"Molly, get the Chao and go as far as you can!" Maria told her. She nodded as she picked up the Chao that was with her and ran off.

In the center of the chaos, someone dropped down near the monsters. She was a purple bat in gothic clothing. She wore a deathly black dress with green gems on her shoulders, a red bow on the back of her waist and black boots that went up to her thighs. She also wore gothic makeup and had strange eyes. They were green irises with blue pupils. She turned to the monsters and gave out her orders. "You know what to do! Go!" And they all went into separate directions. She turned around and narrowed her eyes at Maria, who stood some feet away from her.

"Who are you?" the New Ultimate Lifeform asked.

"So you are the daughter of the legendary Shadow the Hedgehog," the bat mused. "How interesting…"

"Why have you brought the Ibils Monsters here?" she glared. "This is a sacred ground. More importantly, these Chao here are peacefully creatures. I cannot allow you to be here!"

"…"

"Who are you?" she asked again, only a bit louder. "Are you working for Mephiles? That must be the case since he is the only one who can command the Ibils Monsters!"

"…Maybe. Maybe not. That's for you to find out. If you wish to know, then you and I will fight!"

"W-what?" Maria stammered as she stepped back. "Wait a minute!"

The bat didn't listen as she spread her black wings and flew at the black echidna. Maria quickly jumped over her in a high front flip. The bat didn't stop there as she jumped at her with a fist, forcing Maria to retreat farther. The bat continued to lash out with flurries of punches and kicks, making Maria dodge every attack. Soon, the bat made a swift maneuver as she stepped in front of the shocked echidna. She pressed her palm on Maria's chest and unleashed a point blank blast that sent her crashing into and through the ageing walls of rocks. She came to crashing halt amidst the rubble.

"This is the daughter of the Ultimate Lifeform?" the bat laughed as she levitated toward her pray. "What a joke. If she was that easy to defeat than maybe her dear old daddy must be a pushover as well. If that's true then I'm surprised that he was the one who killed Black Doom years ago!"

"_Chaos Bloom!"_

Her rant was cut short when a pink bolt of Chaos Energy slammed into her, throwing her a few feet away.

Maria stood from the rubble with her right hand stretched out, which dimmed in a pink glow from her attack. "Don't you dare speak of my father that way, you wrench," she thundered slowly.

The bat slowly stood up, slightly recovered from the attack. "So NOW you put up a fight," she grinned, showing her intimidating fangs, "Good, now shall we continue?"

"We shall," she answered as she flashed her equally terrifying fangs.

She activated her anti-gravity boots and glided towards opponent, who stood still. She was wise to this as she jumped into the air and came down with a heavy kick. The bat sidestepped out of the way and countered with a snap kick, making Maria escape with some back flips. "Now… try this!" the bat yelled as she shot out beams of green energy from her finger. They were small but dangerous. Maria ran and rolled out of the way as each attack exploded when it hit the ground.

"_Dug Halt!"_ Maria shouted as she punched the ground and forced stones spears to come out. The bat waved her hand to create dark energy to block the assault. Maria pushed her boots to max speed as she dashed at the bat with her fist drawn. As she went for the kill, the bat made a small dark barrier, blocking the attack, but made her fly backwards. Both girls stared at each other as they caught their breaths.

"You are… quite good…" Maria heaved.

"… Too bad I cannot say the same for you…" the bat replied.

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"I expected more from you, you the next Ultimate Lifeform. That is what I am saying. Too bad…" the bat smiled darkly as her eyes suddenly began to change. Her pupils turned red with black lines shaped like a whirlwind between two rings.

* * *

"_What is…?" Maria's vision blurred quickly as she found herself tied firmly to a cross. Everything everywhere seemed to be red, black and white. And multiply forms of that bat stood around her. "What are you doing?" Maria demanded as she tried to wiggle free. "Let me down!"_

_One of the bats shook her head. "It's no use. You will not be able to move from that spot for the next seventy-two hours. During that time, my sisters and I will be cutting every single inch of flesh and break every bone in your body."_

"_N-no!" she shrieked._

_Another bat pulled out a knife and hammer, "Now, let the crucifixion begin."_

_

* * *

_

The bat watched as Maria held her head and screamed at the top of her lungs. Even if it only lasted a few seconds, it was more then enough time to do what she was doing to her as she let go her head and she crumpled to the ground like a doll. She summoned a blood red blade to finish her, but was interrupted by a blast of solar energy. She rolled out of the way and looked up to see her aggressor.

Violet held her hands up like a gun as her two index fingers steamed from the attack. Breezy, Gadget, Athena, Daisy and Omega went past her as they went to check on the black echidna.

"Maria! Maria! Are you alright! Answer me!" Athena shouted franticly as she shook her.

Omega quickly scanned her body. "She is still alive. Merely traumatized."

"What a relief," Daisy sighed. Breezy slowly stood up and turn to face the bat with her piercing emerald eyes.

"You hurt one of my friends," she glared angrily, "That is unacceptable, desu!"

"Desu?" the bat laughed. "You do realize that you just sounded like a bratty child just now, don't you?"

Breezy gave no answer as she ducked into a Spin Dash and slammed into the bat without warning. The bat snarled as she skidded to a halt. Breezy didn't stop as she soon began blazing around in different directions, confusing the bat.

"Damn, so this is the daughter of the Legendary Azure Wind," the bat whispered as her eyes darted back and forth.

Suddenly, Breezy sent a fast and powerful kick at her back that sent her flying forward. As she landed, she twisted around and sent a dark burst at the hedgehog, making her crash into a rock pillar.

"Breezy!" Gadget gasped.

"Now you die!" the bat hissed as she flew at the recovering hedgehog. Before she could barely get to a foot, something landed in front of her, causing an energy barrier to send her back.

"Damn it!" she swore as she got back, "What was that?" a winged minion flew up to her and she allowed it to perch on her arm. She seemed to understand what it was saying, though it didn't make any sound aside from the flutter of the flames. "…So the Chaos Emerald is not here. I see. You are dismissed." The monster vanished as she turned to Breezy, who stuck her head up.

"It seems you are all very lucky today. We'll have to continue this some other time," she flew up to the sky before turning her head back. "Oh, and the name's Darcy. Darcy the Bat. Remember it." And she vanished in a flash of light.

"So Mephiles has an ally…" Violet frowned as she looked up to where Darcy disappeared. "Omega, can you carry Maria to safety?"

"Roger," Omega nodded as he carefully picked up Maria's stiff body and made his way to the Chao Gardens' exit.

"But what was it that stopped Darcy?" Athena wondered. Breezy got up and walked to where the projectile landed. Slowly, she picked it up and examined it.

"A blue rose?"


	5. Dial D for Dynamite

Disclamer: Four of the new characters introduced belongs to Sonic Phantom. For those of you who know him well, he allowed me to barrow some elements from his previous stories. But not too much!

**Ch 5: Dial D for Dynamite**

Rio Salaz was a western town on the other side of Soleanna. It's a pretty lively town where some animals and humans dressed like cowboys or women wore fancy dresses.

Near the square was a small house. It looked kind of like a dojo where Chinese monks would reside in. It wasn't really Western material, but no one in town really complained about it either. Inside, there was a dark blue hedgehog in his late teens who was wearing a green leaf shaped necklace, blue sneakers, and white gloves. Then there was a human girl, also in her late teens. She had long red hair, a black shirt, a black miniskirt that reached her knee length, and black boots. Lastly, there was a black swallow with red eyebrows. He was wearing an old-fashioned cowboy hat, brown cowboy boots and blue jeans. All three were watching the news.

"_Hours have passed since the mysterious kidnapping of Sonic and his friends," _the female reporter said on the screen, _"The last they were seen was when citizens witnessed them being careered into the sky by several strange birds. Also, Queen Elise III remains missing as well. The royal guards are still currently searching for her whereabouts. It is reported that her vanishing may be connected to Sonic and his friends' kidnapping…"_

"And those guys are supposed to be the heroes from 20 years ago?" the hedgehog grunted.

"I hope they're alright," the girl prayed.

"Don't worry about it, Senorita Marisa," The swallow said in a Spanish accent as he chewed on a toothpick, "Everyone knows of all they problems the go through. They can find a way out of this one."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Samson," Marisa smiled. "They can escape and find the queen, right Larcen?"

Larcen turned around as he heard footsteps. "Sounds like Kera's back."

The door slid opened and a young adult purple hedgehog, a darker shade of purple, walked in. Her eyes were gold and her quills reached her shoulders. She had on black gloves, a black Chinese dress with some white flowers, a white undershirt, and brown boots that finished her attire. On her back was a strapped sword.

"What's up, Kera?" Marisa chimed.

"The usual," she said as she went next to her friends. "So how goes the situation?"

"Sonic, his friends and the Queen of Soleanna are still missing," Larcen said. "Nothing's changed."

"I see."

"So, what of the main city gun, senorita?" Samson asked as he took out his toothpick.

"Still damaged," Kera sighed. "We'll be in trouble if pirates attack us."

"Well if we're lucky, they won't attack before we can get it fixed," Marisa reassured.

* * *

Unfortunately, she spoke too soon. Several boxy airships were flying towards town. The largest ship was green with dynamite and crossbones for the insignia one each side.

Inside the ship was Bean the Dynamite Duck with some other faces. There was a purple eyed black and white female killer whale wearing a blue swim suit and rubber boots. The boots were green along the edges and red by the heels. There was purple weasel with a cowboy hat that had bullet shells around the rims, brown, black and white boots and a large fang on the left side of his muzzle. His eyes were narrowed blue and his nose was blue as well. The last one was a red and black falcon with a scar slash across his right eye. He had on black trench coat with a red shirt, blue and black pants with black and red boots.

"Our spy has returned!" the killer whale grinned as she looked from the computer. "He's succeeded in sabotaging the anti-aircraft cannon!"

"Excellent job, Moana," the falcon nodded. "Without their anti-aircraft cannon, the town is defenseless."

"Hehahahahaha! They're probably running around like chickens with their heads cut off! You gotta see em' Nack!" Bean laughed.

"That Chaos Emerald is as good as ours," Nack grinned toothily as twirled one of his guns. "When do we dispatch, Skylark?"

"Immediately."

* * *

It wasn't long before the airships flew down into the town and began shooting their plasma machine guns everywhere. Everyone in town ran screaming and tried to talk cover and the ships began destroying everything.

The group of four heard the noises coming from the outside and decided to see what all the fuss was about. Much to their chagrin, they saw the pirates on the attack.

"We should have expected this..." Larcen frowned.

"Yeah, looks like I spoke too soon," Marisa grimaced.

"Kera! Kera!" the sheriff called as he ran up to the four. "My men are holding off the pirates in the square, but more are trying to break through! Their after the Chaos Emerald that's keeping the power core active!"

"Is that right? Well, we can't let them do that, now can we?" Kera nodded as she gripped the dragon-headed grip of her sword.

"Si amiga," Samson nodded as he pulled out one of his guns. "Let's give em' a show."

"Yeah, let's," Marisa smiled as she cracked her knuckles.

"We'll meet back here after we've taken care of the pirates!" Kera said. They all nodded as the left for the separate sections of the gate. Larcen and went for the Marisa when for the front gate, Kera went to the west gate, and Samson headed for the east gate.

* * *

At the front gate, Larcen was facing off against three gunner robots. Two of the robots fired machine guns at him as he ran in a zig zag pattern; these robots seemed almost awful at hitting moving targets. Larcen jumped and took out his silver dagger. As he landed, he dove the blade at the robots head and made some slices. Then he kicked it to the other robot and made them explode. The last robot tried to shoot at him, but arched his spine back to avoid getting hit. Then he ran up to use a snap kick in the head. Then he slashed it for a few times with his dagger before using his knee to knock to the side. It exploded as it fell.

Meanwhile, Marisa was hiding behind a wall as the tank robots in front of it tried to blast it away with their guns. The female sage did not expect them to have that kind of firepower. She noticed a flight of steps to her right. She didn't hesitate to go up and above the wall. She peered down and saw the robots still trying to break the wall. Perfect. Grinning, she jumped high and charged up fire ball before shooting it down. The robots exploded into a brunt crisp. As she landed with the flames behind her, she stretched her arms as the cackled in yellow lighting. She fired bolts of electricity, destroying the other robots that were nearby.

"You alright?" Larcen called over.

"Sure am!" Marisa winked playfully, "Why did you ask?"

"Nothing, just asking," Larcen blushed.

"The cannon's been repaired!" a field worker shouted behind them, "You need to pull the lever to the right of the gate!"

"Got it!" Larcen nodded as he ran up and pulled the lever. A huge cannon pulled out from the ground and blasted one of the airships out of the sky.

"All right, that should do it!" Marisa nodded, "Now let's see if the others need help."

* * *

Kera was doing a fine job of holding off the robots at the west gate. Though she was at a disadvantage in height, she out classed them in skill and speed. That was why she was known far and wide as the Sword Demon. For awhile, she was clashing swords against the robots but she soon began to get the advantage. She sank her blade into the ground and maneuvered herself up, kicking them away. As she landed, she went for her nearest target and slashed its arms off. It fell to the ground, not moving. Then she lunged at the next one and sliced it clean in half. The last one, she stabbed with her sword.

More robots are coming. Great. Kera allowed the crest on her sword's hilt to turn from gray to red, letting fire erupt on the blade. "Time to feel the heat," she said as she rushed up to the robots, _"Nova Inferno!"_ She jumped up high and then came down, burning sword first. She crashed into the robots below her, resulting them in exploding in heavy flames. Her crest then turned icy blue as the blade now had freezing vapors. _"Aisu Zero!"_ She swung her sword around, freezing the enemies around her. But it didn't seem to be enough as more robots came to attack, along with more airships.

"Crap, now what?" she mutter to herself.

"Don't worry my lady," a man's voice came from the intercom, "Leave them to me." A cannon appeared from the ground and shot another ship.

"That helps. Thanks," Kera nodded.

* * *

Samson was staring straight at giant airship before him. His hands were at his holsters which kept his guns. He could have already, but why waste a good challenge?

The airship soon began firing missiles at the Spanish gunslinger. As soon as it did, Samson laughed as he pulled out his guns and fired at the missiles. Each bullet hit accurately and canceled out the missiles in a huge blast. Then he saw the weak point; the opened nozzle of the ship. Samson fired at it and before long the ship went down.

"I win," he grinned as he twirled his guns and placed them back. Another cannon appeared soon after.

* * *

Word got out that all of the sides have been locked off. Skylark was not pleased.

"How could this be?" he shouted as he stomped his foot. "All of our assault teams have been shot down!"

"This is inconceivable!" Moana yelled as she slammed her fists on the controls. "I researched all of the town's power levels myself! My plans never fail like this!"

"Then I guess I have no choice!" Skylark frowned. "I'll infiltrate the town and take the Emerald myself! You three distracted them by anyway you can!"

"Aye, captain!" they nodded.

* * *

"Well, that was easy," Samson smiled as they met back in the square.

"They were hardly a challenge," Larcen shrugged.

"There's no such thing as overestimating enemies," Kera said.

"Hey! They're attacking the roof!" a woman pointed as they all looked up. The say a heavily armed ship attack the top tower with its guns.

"Those pirates must really be growing desperate," Marisa blinked.

"But they wouldn't get anything from attacking just the roof. Unless…" Kera thought out loud. Then her eyes widened.

"Unless what?" Larcen asked.

"Unless… it's a distraction! Someone must be headed for the Emerald as we speak!" Kera realized.

"That makes sense!" Marisa nodded.

"So they're trying to divert us from the intruder, eh?" Samson said as he wiped his cheek.

"Larcen, come with me! The rest of you get to the roof and stop that airship!"

"Got it!" they nodded and went into two teams.

* * *

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Moana motioned from her cockpit seat. Nack and Bean went over and found the sage and gunslinger climbing up to the roof.

"Those are two of the guys who've been messing with us!" Bean growled.

"Well I say lets teach them a lesson," Nack said as he and Bean took pilot seats next to her.

"Haahahahahaha! Let's blast em outta the sky!" Bean laughed.

"No way is it gonna end like that last time!" Moana said as she pushed the joystick, "Leopordo! Go!"

* * *

As Marisa and Samson got to the roof, they noticed the an orange fighter jet coming down on them, firing the guns. They managed to get out of the way quickly.

"So they've gotten wise to us?" Marisa smirked sassily, "Ready, Samson?"

"Let's give these pirates a good hoedown," Samson smiled as he aimed his pistols. He began firing both guns at the Leopordo as it launched missiles at them. Samson shot those down as well. Marisa added to the assault by firing wind bullets at the ship. The ship went and did another dive bomb on them as the jump to opposite sides.

"Is that, like, they're only tactic?" Marisa frowned.

"Looks like it," Samson shrugged as he readied his gun. "Hope Larcen and Kera aren't too late though…"

* * *

Skylark was walking through the pathway that lead to the power core and the Chaos Emerald. As he did, Larcen and Kera approached him from behind. "Hold it right there!" Kera shouted.

Skylark turned around and glared at the two hedgehogs. "So you're the ones who messed up my plans, huh?"

"And who are you?" Larcen asked.

"Name's Skylark. Skylark R. Falcon, leader of the Dynamite Syndicate. That Chaos Emerald this town holds is worth a lot of money, and we're cashing in."

"Is that all you care about?" Kera questioned, "Don't you know what a Chaos Emerald can do?"

"I don't really care," Skylark remarked as he pulled out a pair of sai knives. He twirled them in his hands before getting into fighting form. "I just want that Emerald."

"Sorry, friend. Not happening," Larcen said as he pulled out his dagger. Kera got out her sword and went into a stance.

With a shout, Skylark lunged at them. Kera jumped back while Larcen rolled out of the way. Going for his closest target, Skylark swung his sai knives at the hedgehog who tried fending him off with his dagger. He only had one weapon and that put him in a huge disadvantage.

Grinding her teeth, Kera ran into the fight with her sword bearing. Skylark took notice and jumped over her downward slash. He clashed blades with her for a while before jumping back and then running and jumping on some boxes and walls to escape. He was quick and agile; his jumps almost made him look like he could fly. Still, the hedgehogs didn't let him off as they followed him by jumping on the boxes and walls.

Skylark landed onto a catwalk and was soon accompanied by Kera and Larcen, who stood on both sides from him. He was trapped, but Skylark grinned, knowing that he was in for a good fight. He taunted both of them to come, which they did. They brought both blades down on him, but Skylark blocked them with his sais. The three blade fighters then began to undergo a handicap combat. Skylark swiftly blocked and evaded each attack that the hedgehogs dished out, making it hard to hit him. Each move that was made proved to be useless. All four blades flashed in sparks as each weapon hit another. Finally, Skylark pushed their blades back from a deadlock and did a split kick to knock the hedgehogs back. Smirking at his handiwork, Skylark went to escape by the chains that hung nearby.

"Oh no you don't!" Kera shouted as the crest of her sword turned blue. Her blade turned into something like water as she dashed after him. "Take this! _Aguis Illusion!"_ She turned invisible as she went after him. Luckily for Skylark, he saw this and dropped down. All he got as a nicked knee from the invisible water attack.

Skylark examined his injury and looked up as Larcen and Kera landed near him. "Well, you two don't disappoint. I guess a tactical retreat is in order for today. Rest assure though, we will get that Emerald. And I hope to fight you again in the future." With that, he ran off, leaving Larcen and Kera to relax.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marisa and Samson were finishing off the fight against the Leopordo. With a twist of her hands, Marisa made a spinning blade of fire. She threw it and the blade cut the ship underneath.

"Oh no! Not another ship!" Moana shrieked. She was getting a hard time on the controls now.

"Very impressive, looks like we underestimated them…" Nack acknowledged calmly.

"Let's get out of here!" Bean shouted.

Marisa and Samson watched as the Leopordo flew of with it the smoke coming from its backside. "Whew! That was close!" Marisa sighed.

"I'll say," Samson nodded as he twirled his guns and placed them back in his holsters.

* * *

Later…

"Well, that was a mess," Moana said as the pirates retreated back to their main ship.

"I never would have guessed that there were people who were willing to go against us," Nack muttered as he frowned. Then he grinned, showing his fangs, "Oh well, I could always use a challenge."

"Now's not the time to play games," Skylark frowned. "We have to regroup and reevaluate our strategy. Next time, we'll get that Emerald. And the other six as well."

"That's right!" Bean shouted as the Gesellschaft flew into the distance. "This isn't over! The Dynamite Syndicate will have their pay! Dahahahahaha!"


	6. Getting Some Helping Hands

**Ch 6: Getting Some Helping Hands**

When Breezy and her friends got back her house, they didn't hastate to get Maria to bed. The poor female echidna was still unconscious due to what the mysterious bat, Darcy, did to her, whatever she did to her. It must have been terrible since none of them ever heard her scream so loud before, though the scream did help them to find her. The friends were questioning whether or not they should ask what happened to her. It would be a good clue, but it may be too painful for their shy friend.

Breezy stared at the blue rose that she held in her hand as she sat on the sofa. Whatever the rose was, it saved her life. But where did it come from? Who threw it? Breezy wondered if she had some kind of guardian angel watching her. Well, if she really does…

* * *

"Maria, you alright?"

That was the first thing she heard when she slowly woke up. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself looking at the concerned white face of Athena.

"Athena? Where am I?"

"We're back at Breezy's place. We were lucky that we found you when we did," she answered.

"Oh…" she nodded slowly before her eyes widened. "Molly! What happened to her?"

"Clam down," the cat said as she pushed her shoulders back on the bed. "Molly is alright and unharmed. She managed to get all the Chao to safety too. You'll see her soon."

"Oh, good," Maria said as she relaxed.

"Maria… the bat that attacked you… her name was Darcy. What happened?"

"I think she was looking for the Chaos Emeralds…" Maria explained and her hands trembled, "She made me fight her, then I saw her eyes. They looked so cold. Next thing I knew, I was in a strange, evil place and I was tied to a cross… and…." She couldn't finish as she began to cry. Athena consoled her by bring her in a gentle hug.

"Don't worry, we'll be ready for her next time," Athena told her as they separated. "But now it looks like Mephiles as begun making tracks. Can you still fight?"

"I can try," Maria answered as she got out of bed.

"At a girl!" she smiled as they walked out of the room.

* * *

"Maria, you're alright!" Gadget exclaimed as he ran up to hug her.

"Hi to you too," Maria sweetly smiled as she cuddled her youngest friend and tugged his cute ears. "Thanks for helping me everyone."

"No problem," Breezy smiled as she and Daisy walked up. "How do you feel?"

"Much better, thank you," Maria said as she set Gadget down.

"You sure you don't need more rest?" Daisy asked.

"No, I'm fine. Really."

"That's good, because something else just came up." A new voice said.

They turned to find Violet leaning a wall before. Her hands were behind her back and she had that usual calculating look in her eyes. She was totally devoid of any emotion on her face. Usually, something when she had that face, there's something she knows or has something in mind.

"What's up, big sis?" Daisy asked.

"Something happened in the town of Rio Salaz," Violet continued as she walked towards her friends. "I just picked it up on my scanner. There was a large scale invasion while we were busy."

"What happened?" Athena asked.

"Pirates," was her answer. "They were looking for the Chaos Emerald that was stored there."

"Pirates?" Maria gasped. "A Chaos Emerald?"

"Yeah, the Chaos Emerald that they have is used to supply energy for that town. The pirates apparently wanted it to get more money. You can all bet your boots on what'll happen if Mephiles finds out."

"So our first stop is Rio Salaz, huh?" Breezy said.

"That's right. I'll get the X Tornado ready and we'll be on our way."

"Got it," they all nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mephiles has also found out about the Chaos Emerald being held in Rio Salaz. Right now, he was speaking with Darcy about it in a large briefing room. It looked like any other kind of briefing room, but their were shadows creeping on the walls, and if you listened closely, you could here whispers. "So, the first Emerald is in Rio Salaz?" he asked as he sipped some red wine from his glass. Yes, it is possible for him to drink. Please don't ask why.

"Yes sir," Darcy nodded. "There was a pirate invasion there while I was defeating Shadow's daughter. The town is using the Emerald as a power core."

"I see," Mephiles nodded as he set his glass down. "That narrows down our search. Rio Salaz must still be recovering from the attack. This makes it a perfect opportunity to strike."

"You know the old saying, Mephiles," a creepy voice said in a French accent, "There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded bird. Perhaps you can allow me to accommodate Darcy during the mission?" Someone walked out of the darkness and up to the duo. It was a black owl with green eyes that were almost as scary as Mephiles'. He wore a black magician's hat with silver gauntlets, a hard-blue-plated chest that covered his body, dark blue boots and a blue cape for the finishing touch.

"How right you are, Rothion," Mephiles acknowledged his most loyal servant. "The town may be damaged for the moment, but they will be expecting another attack. I am entrusting both of you to get the Emerald. Can I trust you?"

"I shall hold you close to my heart," Rothion bowed.

"We will not fail you," Darcy curtsied.

"Good. You are dismissed," Mephiles snapped his talons and his generals vanished in a flash of light. This left Mephiles to lie back on his chair to think. "So, Sonic and the others have children with the same powers as them…? Those brats don't know how deep they are getting themselves into. No matter…" An invisible smirked formed on his face, "Even though Ibils is gone, I can still go forward with my plan… the Chaos Emeralds will be mine, and I will once again become the supreme being of the universe… keh… hehehehehe… hahahahahahahaha! Bawahahahahahahahaaa!"

* * *

It was awhile before the X Tornado arrived at Rio Salaz. Gadget was piloting while Violet and Daisy were in the passengers seats. Athena and Breezy were standing on the wings while Omega was fastened on the tail of the plane. Well, Breezy was the one standing on the plane; Athena was clinging to her side of the wing like a scardy cat. "There it is!" Daisy pointed as she pointed.

"They all look busy," Gadget noted as he saw the people in town. "They must still be fixing up after the pirate attack."

"Well, let's go and have a looks see," Breezy said.

"The sooner we get off this plane the better," Athena whimpered as she peeked over.

Unknown to them, danger was looming as they were flying. One of the cannons was aiming for the X Tornado. It started to charge up.

"Keep it steady!" the sheriff commanded, "Wait until they get in range… then fire!"

The cannon did wait until the X Tornado was close enough. When it was in striking range, it fired.

Gadget noticed the plasma of the cannon going at high speed for them. Unfortunately, he couldn't get away fast enough. There was only one thing he could do. "Brace yourselves!"

**BOOM!**

The blast hit its target clear and sharp, and the X Tornado came falling down with the smoke pouring out. "Those aren't pirates…" the sheriff blinked. Then his eyes winded as he realized his error. "Oh no!"

Gadget managed to land the plane in town without getting anymore damage. Still, now he'd have to repair it. As the friends got out of the plane, the sheriff and his deputy ran right up to them. "I'm so sorry! Really I am! I can't tell you how sorry I am!" the sheriff pleaded. "We thought... I thought you were pirates! That's why we shot at you!"

"We just had another run in with the pirates," the deputy explained. "That was the third attack this month."

"Don't worry about it," Breezy smiled. "Our plane wasn't that badly damaged." She grinned at Gadget and ruffled his head. "It's all thanks to my little buddy's flying skills!"

"Hehehehe!" Gadget smiled in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it, sir. We'll have the X Tornado fixed in no time at all!" Daisy told them.

"Well, things are a little hectic around here right now, what with the pirates and all, but make yourselves at home!" the sheriff welcomed.

"Actually sir," Maria began. "We need to talk to you about the Chaos Emerald. It's very important."

"I see," the sheriff nodded as he ushered them. "Right this way. I know some people who can help you."

"Gadget, you and you sisters fix up the X Tornado, alright?" Breezy told them.

"Right, we'll handle it!" Gadget nodded.

* * *

"So, you say that someone named Mephiles is after our Chaos Emerald?" Kera asked skeptically as Breezy, Maria, Athena and Omega met with her, Larcen, Marisa and Samson. They were right outside her dojo.

"Yes, I know that you are using it to power your town right now but it won't matter if he gets his hands on it," Maria pleaded.

"Never heard off him," Larcen said.

"Nether have I," Marisa added.

"Yes, how do we know you aren't trying to pull a fast one on us?" Kera asked suspiciously.

"What if we said that he was the one who kidnapped our parents?" Athena said.

"Your parents?" Samson blinked. Then it hit him. "Wait… you don't mean…"

"That you girls are…" Larcen continued. They all nodded.

"Ask Omega here," Breezy pointed. "He's always honest. Sometimes too honest, but still honest."

"W… WOW!" Marisa exclaimed. "You're really them! You're their kids!"

"So now you're trying to find out what happened to you're parents," Kera nodded with a small smile, "Good for you. That still doesn't explain some other things though."

Suddenly, Omega picked up something on his radar. "Demonic flames approaching. Detected on the eastside."

"What?" Maria gasped. "That means the Ibils Monsters are coming here!"

"Come on! We have to stop them before they burn the whole town down!" Athena shouted.

* * *

Sure enough, the Ibils Monsters were making another appearance and their flaming bodies were enveloped everything that they touched in flames. Each of the monsters looked like geckos of fire and lava, with goopy skin. Everyone in town had long evacuated but they all knew that now they had extra work to do once it was all over. In the amidst of the disaster, Darcy and Rothion were watching over the destruction that their minions were causing from on of the roofs.

"Hahahaha, ah this is truly marvelous!" Rothion laughed. "The flames of destruction are absolutely beautiful, ne?"

"Oh, I've seen better," Darcy snorted. "The Chaos Emerald is somewhere in some kind of vault. We must find it by any means necessary."

"Ah, but of course!" Rothion grinned as he adjusted his hat. "With the minions causing the upheaval, no one shall suspect the Chaos Emerald until it is too late! Let us be off!"

"Right."

They turned around and walked away, going after the Chaos Emerald.

Soon, Breezy and her friends, now accompanied with Kera and her friends, raced to the scene and found the Ibils Monsters destroying everything in their way. After seeing them once already, Breezy's group knew what they could do. Kera's group on the other hand was shocked at what they saw.

"What are those things!" Marisa shirked.

"They're Ibils Monsters," Athena answered seriously, "They are demons that are born out of the very flames of Hell. Mephiles and his servants are the only ones who can control them apparently."

"Whatever they are, we can't let them destroy this town," Kera said as her sword gained a waterish glow. The necklace that Larcen had on glowed in a bright green.

"Come on! Let's do it to it!" Breezy shouted as they raced into the battle.

"Alright freaks! Take this!" Marisa shouted as she fired blasts of lighting at the monsters that went after her. They were all hit and vanished in a mix of fire and electricity. One monster tried to sideline her, but she managed to do away with it by slamming a magic enhanced fist into the face. She coughed after inhaling some of the ash. Larcen seemed to become much faster as he dashed right through the monsters and dispatched them with ease. He was a speeding blur of green flash as he ripped through the monsters.

Kera had a much easier time. Thanks to the water element of her sword, she cut through the monsters like a hot knife through butter. Fire was nothing compared to water after all. All it took was one watery slash per monster and that was it. One monster dared to sneak behind her and tried to blow fire at her. She saw it coming and shielded herself with her sword, canceling out the attack. The monster backed up and let out what seemed to be an 'Uh oh'. Kera just smirked as she raised her sword for an overhead slash and slice the beast clear in half.

Breezy was without her father's Copy Emerald for the time being, so she used her kicks, Homing Attacks and Spin Dashes on the monsters that came her way. The monsters seemed to be rather weak, so it was no trouble for her. Athena used her psychokinesis on them since her pyrokinesis was a big no-no. She threw the monsters in to the water supply or at each other, making them humorously exploded in ash. Maria blasted them with her Chaos Attacks while Samson and Omega used their guns. Some of the monsters exploded from the impact of the Chaos Attacks while others disintegrated from the holes in their bodies.

Within half an hour, all the demons from Hell disappeared.

"Whew! Now that was a hoedown!" Samson heaved as he wiped his brow.

"Yeah, those things were really dangerous," Marisa nodded.

"But the Ibils Monsters didn't seem to be looking for anything," Larcen pondered, "It almost seemed like they were just provoking us into…." His eyes widened. "Oh crap."

"The Chaos Emerald! It's unguarded!" Kera gasped.

"What!" Breezy gasped. "We'll what are we standing here for! We have to go; hurry!"

* * *

All of them began making tracks for the core room. They all prayed for the Emerald to still be there. But when they got there…

"Oh no! The Chaos Emerald is gone!" Marisa gaped.

"Looking for this?"

The heroes all turned around and found both Darcy and Rothion sneering at them. In Darcy's hand, the red Chaos Emerald shined ominously.

"Darcy!" Maria glared.

"So you recovered from my Tsukuyomi," she noted, "You really must be Shadow's daughter after all."

"And who are you?" Athena pointed at Rothion.

"Good day to you, young miss," the owl bowed and tipped his hat, "I am Rothion. Forgive me for cutting is meeting short, but we must be on our way. Mephiles is expecting us."

"Not so fast!" Breezy shouted as she tried to use a Homing Spin on them.

"_Chaos Control!"_

In a flash of blue light, both Rothion and Darcy vanished. Breezy landed face first and growled as she got up.

"Aw man! We lost them!"

"Still, there are six more to find so we still have a chance," Maria pointed out. "But what will become of this town now?"

"Don't worry," Kera smiled. "We have a back up generator just in case something like this happened. So, maybe we can go some place else and talk a bit more about this Mephiles character…"

* * *

And later back at Breezy's…

"Well, the story does sound a bit farfetched to say the least," Kera nodded after Breezy and the others gave the story. "But after seeing those two guys, I don't know why I shouldn't believe you."

"Yeah, I mean this guy is one half of a god," Larcen put in his own two cents. "The only other god like that is Chaos, but that's another story."

"We still don't know too much about this guy though," Daisy said.

"Yeah, I may have to do some more research," Violet added.

"Are you asking us for help?" Marisa guessed.

"Will you?" Gadget asked.

"Do you know the old Chinese proverb, 'Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire'?" Kera quoted, "It's the same as saying, 'United we stand strong'. Of course we'll help you."

"Yeah, don't worry about it!" Larcen grinned. "We'll help out."

"Si senor," Samson smiled. "Let's show this Mephiles a thing or two."

"You know I'm in," Marisa grinned.

"Aw yeah, baby!" Breezy grinned as she gave the thumbs up. "This makes us a team! Mephiles won't know what hit him!"

"I see you are doing a fine job in setting up an alliance, Breezy the Hedgehog," a voice said from outside the window.

Everyone turned outside to find blue rose petals falling down like snow from the sunset sky. They found someone standing on a lamppost. He was dressed up in a blue Victorian tuxedo with white gloves, black shoes, and a black cape. He also had a black silk fedora and covered his face in a cupid mask. Brownish hair could be seen and the eyes of the mask glowed in an ominous blue color. Bluntly speaking, he was like a cross between Dracula and the Phantom of the Opera.

"Who… are you…?" Breezy questioned. She recognized the blue rose that the mysterious man was holding up to his masked face.

"You'll find out… soon enough…" was his only response. The man then waved his cape in front of him and vanished in a swarm of more blue petals. The team of heroes could only watch the rose petals continue to fall as the man's chilling laugh cut through the night air.

Who was that guy? Is he friend or foe? Only time will tell…

A/N: I'm sorry if the fight was uninteresting in this chapter. I had a hard time figuring out what to do and how to add more. Don't worry; the fights will be more explanatory.


	7. Let's Explore!

A/N: This chapter introduces two more OCs that belong to BSH. To bad he decided not to read this. There is also one more OC that once belonged to Sonic Phantom. But he told me that he gave him away to ForceWalker. Since I already put him in the story, I changed his name, as well as the appearance.

**Ch 7: Let's Explore!**

By the early morning when the sun had yet to rise, Jewels found her way to one of the G.U.N. navy ships. It was very huge, and it was loaded with many weapons and airships. She was now wearing her official G.U.N. uniform: a black suit with a blue tie. She still had her boots on and the shirt was still showing her cleavage a bit. She also kept her knuckledusters on. As she walked into the ship, she ran into her superior. He was an orange phoenix with long orange feathers and he had blue eyes with shades over his head. He also had a red leather jacket, blue gloves, and black leather boots. On the back on his jacket was the Japanese mark for "Ten".

"Hey, Jewels. It's been awhile," the phoenix gruffly greeted her.

"Hi to you too, Radian," Jewels smiled. "So what's this about a thief breaking into the base?"

"Ah yes," he nodded as the continued walking, "He was a strange one. All he took was some data on the Sanpglyph."

"The Sanpglyph?"

"A key that folds in three pieces. Although, I can't tell you what it does because all that information was deleted."

"I see," she nodded. "Can you show me what this guy looks like?"

"Sure, I managed to get some audio from the security cams," Radian said as he took out the camcorder. Jewels took a look at it and saw a strange black blur. She couldn't see what it really was, but she did manage to see a mask of some sort.

"So he wore a mask…?"

"Yeah, looks like it. We don't know what his objectives are, so…"

"So you want me to unmask the guy and interrogate him. Don't worry Radian," Jewels said as she closed the camcorder. "I'll find him."

* * *

Around that same time, a huge aircraft was flying over the skies. On it was a very familiar insignia. Inside the captain's chamber, several robots were working and doing the usual systems maintenance. The chair in the middle of the room swirled around, showing an obese man hidden in the shadows. His glasses seemed to shine in the darkness.

"Status report on Australia!" he commanded.

"Sir, weather condition is normal, and the bases are intact," one of the droids said.

"Perfect," the man grinned as his teeth shined in the darkness. "It's taken me some time, but I finally made out of that horrid place! This time… this time you will truly feel my wrath, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

And the man stood up from his chair as he laughed insidiously.

"Guhehehehe… hahahahahahaha… MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!... whew! Being evil sure does make me hungry! Where is my meal?"

* * *

The next day after everyone did their daily rituals, everyone met up at the Prower Workshop for a briefing meeting.

"Alright, everyone," Kera announced. "Yesterday the first Chaos Emerald was taken by this new enemy so we need to get the other six before they do. Problem is, the Chaos Emeralds are not really easy to find. Any ideas?"

"Um… I might know something," Gadget spoke shyly. He wasn't used to meeting new people.

"What is it?" Marisa asked in a motherly tone. "Go on little guy."

"Well, the Chaos Emeralds are like magnets," he explained bashfully, "T-they can attract each other and can let us know when another is near by. But without Chaos Emerald, we can't prove that. Sorry."

"Don't be," Kera smiled. "That does give us a clue."

"You know," Violet continued. "The Chaos Emeralds do give off a unique wavelength… with the right machinery, it is possible to find them. But…" she trailed off as she looked at Breezy.

"But what?" she asked.

"But we don't need to do that. You, Maria and Athena can look for the Emeralds with your own Chaos Energy. You can utilize your auras to find the Emeralds' energy signature. In other words, you three have Chaos Senses."

"Oh that's right!" Athena grinned.

"So now we know how to find the Emeralds," Larcen nodded, "Good. Question is, we're do we go next?"

"Let's see…" Breezy thought, "The Chaos Emeralds need to be either well hidden or heavily guarded. Maybe… maybe we can try Soleanna."

"Yes, our parents said that they were called to Soleanna for something," Maria pointed out.

"And didn't the queen of that place vanish as well?" Kera added. "If we're lucky we can find out how and why she disappeared."

"Well it's settled," Breezy nodded.

"Alright Breezy," Violet continued. "Let's start this out small. Why don't you, Kera, Larcen and Maria go there?"

"Sure, why's that?"

"We have to make sure that Mephiles isn't wise to us. Now that he knows who we are, he'll be extra careful."

"Oh, alright. I got you," Breezy noted. "Alright then, we'll be on our way."

* * *

After an hour of waiting, the team consisting of Breezy, Maria, Kera and Larcen reach the Kingdom of Water. Everything there seemed to be running normally, save for some panic in the streets.

"This town has seen better days," Kera said as she looked at some of the panicky people.

"You can say that again," Maria nodded.

"Breezy, do you and Maria sense any trace of a Chaos Emerald yet?" Larcen asked.

"No, not yet," Breezy shook her head. "Maybe we can cover some more ground. That might give us some luck."

"Alright, good idea," Kera nodded. "Maybe we can find some clues along the way." And they separated in three directions.

* * *

Larcen went to the shopping market of the kingdom. After looking around, he found a shop that read "Flowers of the Sun." It looked like a small business and had lots of beautiful flowers displayed. The flowers were in red, pink, white, yellow, purple and blue. It seemed to be like a heavenly atmosphere and it have everything to do with love. Deciding to start small, he went to have a look.

The owner of the place, Momoko Hanasaki, was a Japanese woman around the same age as Kera. She had fluffy pink hair with two yellow ribbons on the side. She had sapphire eyes that, at first glance, made her seem juvenile. Most people who when by that place knew her as a love freak.

Right now, the woman in question was busy chewing down a bowl of ramen while sobbing over a romance flick being played on her desk. Larcen's left eye twitched for a moment after seeing her. Then he collected himself and allowed himself known.

"Excuse me?" he said politely. The bubblegum woman blinked, fearing that she was caught spacing out. When she looked down and saw Larcen, her expression brightened. After wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked at him in a cute way.

"Hey there!" Momoko said brightly. She almost seemed to have pink sparkles around her as she smiled. "Are you here to pick out a flower or two for your girlfriend?"

Larcen immediately thought about Marisa when she said. He could almost see the happy squeals on her face when she saw beautiful flowers. Recollecting himself, he decided to ask his questions.

"Um, no. Maybe next time," he said as the blush slowly vanished from his face. "Actually, I'm investigating the disappearance of Queen Elise III. This may seem a bit awkward but do you know anything perhaps? Maybe you saw some suspicious people?"

"Oh yeah, the queen! How tragic!" Momoko nodded quickly with a look of despair. "She's been watching this kingdom since she was just eight! Eight! Ever since her father, the Duke, mysteriously died after a laboratory accident, she was the only of in her family to watch the throne. I hear that she never had time to play with any other kids because of that …"

"So then you don't know who could have kidnapped the queen?" Larcen continued. He didn't really know for sure if Mephiles had a hand in this. Maybe he did but he didn't have enough clues to prove the theory.

"I'm afraid not," she blubbered as her eyes turned watery, "It's been relatively peacefully lately, what with Dr. Eggman's mysterious disappearance. Aside from small crimes here and there, nothing life threatening has ever happened. The queen was always such a nice person; everyone in the kingdom loved her. Just who would do such a thing? WHAAAA!"

Larcen could only watch as the human woman in front of him broke down sobbing as the tears poured from her eyes like water from a broken pipe. He wasn't really sure what he should do at this point. He just decided to wait until she was done sobbing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Maria was in another shop. "Blancmanche Cosplay City" was its name. It was a pretty nice costume shop. It had some nice costumes displayed and the better ones were inside. Maria wondered if she should let Breezy in on it. She knew how much she loved to cosplay.

While looking inside, she found some neat maid, witch and ninja costumes. The costumes looked pretty cool and she thought she should try some herself sometime. Then she found something else. It was an odd chicken head, and if she did know any better she could have sworn that it was looking right at her. She took in a closer eye, seeing that something was wrong. And then…

"BOO!"

"Wha!" Maria screamed as she fell on her tail.

"Hahahaha!" The mask cackled as a pair of hands reached up to remove the head. It showed a blue haired woman with rabbit ears replacing human ones. Must be a hybrid. She was a bit short though. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. Anyway, my name is Mint Blancmanche. What can I do you for?"

"Oh, uh…" Maria heaved as her heart rate returned to normal. She stood up, "Um, I was just asking some questions. I was wondering, do you know if a Chaos Emerald is being hidden in the city?"

"Well, not that I know of," Mint shrugged, "Why?"

"The ones who kidnapped Sonic and the others must be after them," she explained. "We're trying to collect them before they do. They already found one so far."

"Oh I see," she nodded. "Yeah, I still can't believe it happened! I bet those guys were kidnapped so that the ones who did would need to worry about them! They always gave the bad guys trouble, so if there gone that'd it'll be a huge problem for all of us!"

"Tell me about it," Maria agreed. Then she thought of something else, "Do you happen to know anyone who bought a tuxedo and cape with a cupid mask?"

"Now that you mention it…" Mint thought for a moment as she tapped her chin,"There was this one guy dressed up in a heavy brown trench coat, saying that someone asked him to buy it. It was all he said though. He just paid for it and that was that."

"Oh… alright then," Maria blinked.

* * *

Breezy was sitting on a bench by a fountain, eating some ice cream. She had been asking question around the city herself, but so far hasn't had any luck. No one in town knew if a Chaos Emerald was in town or why the queen disappeared. Good grief, how did pops do this stuff? In his stories he made them sound so easy! And now the bad guy has the first Chaos Emerald. Sighing, she finished her ice cream cone and threw it behind her, not noticing that someone else was on the other side of the fountain behind her.

"Hey! What the hell!"

Blinking, she turned around to find the source of the violent oath. There was tall and firmly toned boy around the same age as Maria. His red hair was slicked backwards as what was left of her ice cream drooped down and his blue eyes flared in annoyance. He wore a pair of black pants held by a grey belt, a black shirt, a flowing grey coat with the Soleanna symbol sown in the back with red thread, black and white boots, and a silver chains necklace.

The girl next to him looked like his twin, but was the complete opposite. Her red hair reached her shoulders and her blue eyes indicated playfulness. She wore a silky, white dress with thread stretched across the neckline and shoulders, a pair of pure-white sandals, and crown made of ivy leaves. She could help but giggle at the sight as her bother growled from the mess on his head.

"Alright, who did it?" the boy growled.

"Oh, come on, Zed," the girl grinned. "Lighten up. I think it looks good on you."

"No one asked for your opinion, brat!"

"Hey, chillax!" Breezy said, grabbing both of their attentions. She zipped over in front of them in a quick blur. "Sorry, dude. That was mine."

"Oh, so it was you, huh?" Zed frowned as he stood up and towered over her.

"I said I was sorry," the hedgehog smiled tensely as she sweatdroped.

"She did say it," the girl nodded.

Zed snorted as he pulled out a handkerchief and cleaned his head. "Yeah, whatever."

"So, who are you, little girl?" the girl asked affectionately.

"Desu!" Breezy frowned. "I'm not a little girl! I'm fourteen! And another thing, I'm the daughter of the Legendary Azure Wind!" She suddenly grinned as she struck a pose. "The Amethyst Cyclone, Breezy the Hedgehog!"

"Wow! So you're the daughter of Sonic the Hedgehog?" the girl beamed. "So cool!"

Zed snorted again.

"Well, you know who I am, but I don't who you are," Breezy said as she scratched her head. "Are you twins?"

"Unfortunately," Zed gruffly remarked.

"Don't mind Mr. Sunshine there," the girl said as she thumbed at him. "He's my older bother, Zed. I'm Elise IV, but people call me Eli so they don't confuse me for my mother."

"Wait, Elise the Forth?" Breezy blinked. There was only one family in Australia who would always name the daughters of the family "Elise." "So you two guys are the prince and princess of this place?"

"Uh huh! That's right!"

"Um, sweet! I'm sorry that your mom vanished by the way. It happened before the Soleanna Festival could start right?"

"Yeah, the celebration can't start without," Eli nodded glumly, "It's put on hold until she comes back."

"About the only good thing that came out of this," Zed added harshly.

"Zed, the Soleanna Festival of the Sun has been a tradition for generations," Eli chided, "Our ancestors have been praying to Solaris for years of fortune for your kingdom and mother will have to teach us the ways of the tradition soon."

"Solaris…?" Breezy whispered with eyes widened.

"I don't understand why people always have to celebrate that worthless holiday. Its nothing but some fancy fireworks and stuff."

"Oh Zed, what am I going to do with you?" Eli sighed as she shook her head.

"Well, its good to meet you guys, but I got somewhere I gotta be. See ya!" Breezy waved as she walked off.

Eli watched as the purple hedgehog walked to the Kingdom Valley while Zed muttered some incoherent words and sipped on his soda drink. After some moments of standing around, Eli made her move. "Come on, let's go Zed!"

"And go where?" he glared.

"To follow Breezy! She's Sonic's daughter and he got kidnapped to right? So we can help each other to find our parents!" she said excitedly as she tugged on his arm.

"I don't really care," he said sharply as he tugged his arm away. "You can follow the rodent if you want, I'm staying here." Before he could take another sip, however, Eli yanked his trench coat and pulled him along with her. She may not look it, but she was as strong as he was.

* * *

"Hey peoples!" Breezy said as she met up with Larcen, Maria and Kera in Kingdom Valley. "Found anything?"

"The only thing I got was that someone in a heavy trench coat picking up the costume that the strange man wears," Maria said. "Nothing valuable. Sorry."

"Me nether," Larcen added. "The woman a spoke to was nice, but she got upset rather quickly when I asked about the queen's vanishing. What about you, Kera? Did you find any Chaos Emeralds here?"

"Sorry, don't have anything either," Kera said as she shook her head.

"Yeah, me and Maria should'a sensed the presence of an Emerald here by now," Breezy nodded. "I got jack too. Looks like we're still at square one."

"Hey! Wait up Breezy!"

The four turned to the source of the voice. They found the Twins of Soleanna coming up to them… well one of them anyway. The older one was still being dragged by his coat.

"Where'd you go Breezy?" Eli asked as she reached them.

"Oh, you still wanted to talk?" she questioned. "Sorry if I was rude."

"Don't worry about it! We really wanted to know more about you!" Zed gave her a less-than-enthusiastic glare at her remark. "Well it didn't quite happen that way, but hey, at least he came."

"Who are you?" Kera asked.

"That's Eli and the other one is Zed. They're both the children of the queen," Breezy said to her.

"You two are the Children of Soleanna?" Larcen gasped.

"It is unfortunate that we are related," Zed remarked sourly.

"So, Breezy said that you guys are looking for the Chaos Emeralds. What for?" Eli asked.

"Whoever kidnapped our parents must want the Chaos Emeralds too," Maria said. "When Uncle Sonic and the others had to fight enemies, a race to collect the Chaos Emeralds was always involved."

"Hey, maybe if we help you guys we can find out what happened to our mother too!"

"Sounds like a good idea," Maria nodded. "What do you say?"

"The more the merrier," Breezy grinned. "Welcome aboard!"

"Hey! I never said I wanted to join in this ragtag group!" Zed hissed as he managed to release himself from his sister's grasp.

"Too bad. Wherever I go, you go. You always have to look after your sweet little sister," Eli said as she put on a sweet face.

"Grrr!"

The sibling rivalry was put to a halt when blue rose petals started to drift to the ground around them. And then, that same chilling laugher echoed through the sky. Maria noticed the same mysterious man standing on a castle structure and alerted her friends to look.

"From the land of water and flames, tea in the morning sun, comes the goodwill ambassador of love and destiny." The man recited. "You guessed right… the Blue Phantom."

"It's you…" Breezy gasped.

"We met again, Breezy the Hedgehog," the Phantom said mysteriously.

"Hey! You with the face!" Zed barked. "What the hell-!"

His outburst was cut short when the Phantom threw a blue rose at him, pinning his coat at one of the walls. "I cannon say that I approve of such disrespect," he rebuked.

Breezy took a few paces forward as she looked at the Phantom, "Hey Phantom Dude! I have questions I wanna ask!"

She was interrupted when the masked man made fire appear on his right hand, "A big fire above, plenty of water below. What am I?"

Everyone blinked in bafflement at one another at the strange comment. "Is that supposed to be some kind of riddle?" Larcen blinked

"Hey I know!" Eli began, but Breezy cut in.

"It's a large wildfire along side a river that hasn't been breached!"

"No. He said big fire above, plenty of water below," Maria corrected.

"Oh…"

Even Kera joined in, "A big fire above with plenty of water below…"

"A flaming comet flying over the ocean?" Larcen asked.

"Wait that's not it!" Breezy said.

"Wait, I think I've got it!" Eli spoke.

"Maybe the Kilauea and Mauna Loa active volcanoes on the big island of Hawaii?" Maria guessed.

"It must a-" Larcen started.

"I think-" Maria began.

"It's-"

"Oh-"

"Not it!"

"Huh-"

"The answer-"

"I know-"

"I got it-"

"A-"

"Not it!"

Without warning, the Phantom jumped off the castle structure and went into the sky. "Look! He's getting away!" Eli pointed.

"We shall meet again, my friends…" the Phantom said as he disappeared.

Zed managed to get the rose of him as he walked up to the group. "Damn. Who was that guy?" he growled.

"Who knows who he is? That's what we're trying to find out ourselves," Maria answered.

"I don't really trust him," Kera said as she looked where he vanished.

"We can't jump to assumptions just yet," Larcen commented. Then he noticed something on the ground. He walked up to it and saw that it was a mini computer. "Look at this. He must have dropped it."

"What's that?" Maria asked as she looked over his shoulder.

"It's a computer. Seems to have some sort of information about the… San… pg…lyph… the Sanpglyph? Well, let's have the Prower siblings have a look at it some time later."

"Alright… time to go home," Breezy shrugged.

A/N: Well, Breezy and the others couldn't figure out the riddle, but can you? If you can figure out the riddle, I might either give you the Phantom's identity, or give you a clue. I know the answer, but I ain't telling you! But if you want a hint, then feel free to ask me.


	8. Return of Nega

**Ch 8: Return of Nega**

"So Sonic and his friends have children now?" the mysterious fat man from before said with some interest.

"Yes sir," a little robot nodded. "It seems that several years have passed since your last defeat. Also, I have looked into the currant events. It would seem that Sonic and the others have been kidnapped."

"Oh they have, have they?" the man grinned. "Well then, this is perfect. This is my chance to get the ultimate revenge on our little rodent friends. I'll destroy the most precious things dear to them… their own children! What do you think? Isn't that just brilliant?"

"Your diabolical mind knows no bounds, doctor," the robot complemented.

"Indeed it does not!" he agreed as walked over to a screen. There it showed Breezy reading a girls magazine at her house. Her head was covered by it so he couldn't see her face.

"Soon, my beauty... soon..."

* * *

As Gadget whistled on his way towards his friend's home from his with some more gear that Violet asked for, the bullies from the other day had showed up to cause more trouble for him. They were grinning maliciously, which sent shivers of fear down his spine.

"No where to run, alien-tailed freak!" one of them said hungrily. "Get him!"

That was all Gadget need to drop what he was carrying and run. The bullies were not too far behind, however. Gadget was a fast runner, almost as fast a Breezy, but he was looking behind him so much that he was slowing down. He tried to make a getaway in an alley, but it turned out to be a dead end. He could have flown out but he was so afraid that he never noticed a garbage can that he tripped on. As he got up, he found himself pinned to a wall. One of the bullies even had a switch blade out.

"Let's cut up his face!" one of the bullies suggested. They all began grinning in anticipation. The triplet tailed half-Seedrian fox guessed that they had finally gotten tired of just beating him up and wanted to do something a little more fun in their eyes.

"Any last words, you little weirdo?" the armed one sneered menacingly.

"I have some," a new voice said, "How about you leave that kid alone before I mess you punks up?"

They all turned around and found Prince Zed of Soleanna standing there, his arms folded and his face with a frown. None of the punks seem to know who he was, because they all scolded at him.

"Butt out!" another one barked, "We're just giving this alien freak what he deserves!"

Zed just frowned deeper. He unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles as he slowly made his way to the mob.

"That's it! Get him!" the leader shouted.

The mob began charging at Zed with war calls, intent on making him pay for stepping in on their fun. The prince didn't even flinch though. As soon as they were within range, he used a roundhouse to bash one of the punks in the side of the head, knocking him senseless. He made short work out of another with a cross punch and a knee to the chest. One of them tried to get him from behind, but he ducked and kicked him down. In no less than fifteen seconds, each punk began clutching their faces or struggling to breath.

"Now beat it, you punks!" Zed threatened.

They obviously got the message since they were on their feet and heading out as fast as they could go. They were limping along, but they were going. Satisfied that they were gone, he turned to leave. Gadget managed to get up and ran up to him.

"Um…th-th-thanks for helping me," Gadget stuttered, still quivering.

"Think what you want, those brats had it coming," Zed remarked without turning to him. "You know a girl named Breezy?"

"Y-yeah!" he nodded. "She's my best friend!"

"Then I guess you should follow," Zed said as he motioned him.

As the two boys walked back, Gadget managed to pick up what he had dropped. Soon, they made it back.

"Hey, you're back!" Daisy smiled as they walked in. Then she saw some of his things broken, "What happened?"

"Oh, those guys tried to beat me up again. But he helped me."

"What? We'll thanks for saving my bother, Zed," Daisy smiled as she rubbed her hand on Gadget's head and scratched his ears.

"If there's one thing I hate most of all," Zed said as he rolled his eyes, "Its punks who pick on smaller kids." And that was when Eli came into the room.

"Oh look at him!" she squealed as she saw Gadget, "He's just so adorable!" She raced up to Gadget and picked him up, hugging him rather tightly. A huge blush came on his face, "You're so cute!"

"Wow, she's just like Maria when it comes to cute things," Daisy smiled as she watched the princess cuddle her bother.

"Yeah, it's real annoying," Zed nodded.

"Anyway, all just set up these upgrades to the computer. I'm sure that Uncle Sonic wouldn't mind anyway," Daisy said as she picked up the items.

* * *

After some minutes, Daisy tuned up the computer. As she turned it on and looked though a 3D map, she found something.

"Hey look! Something's going on in Bullet Station!"

The friends came over and looked over her shoulder. Now, they knew Bullet Station was one hell of a train station. It's suspended over a dangerous canyon and the roads were nothing but rails, destructive trains, and loads and loads of traps. One mistake could end it all.

"What? It's over the air?" Athena gasped.

"Alright! Action time!" Breezy cheered.

"There's some kind of disturbance coming from that area. I'm not sure what, but mechs began appearing there. Can you guys take look see?"

"Sure why not," Kera shrugged.

"Okay, let's do it," Maria smiled.

"This should be fun," Marisa grinned excitedly.

"Can I get a say in this?" Athena asked nervously.

"Nope," everyone else rejected.

"I was afraid of that," she sighed as she hung her head.

* * *

Remember when I said that Bullet Station was one hell of a train station? Well, it still is. Breezy, Maria, Omega, Larcen, Kera, Samson and Marisa were riding on the three rails that lead to the center of the station. Gadget was flying above them with his triple tails spinning as a green faced Athena hanging onto his leg.

"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down…" she whimpered.

"Look at this station!" Larcen observed, "It must stretch out for miles!"

"Dad said that the Bullet Station contains hazardous trains, some with A.I., that can almost come out from nowhere," Gadget explained, "There are bombs here too. I also remember him saying that it was once a base for Doctor Eggman."

"Dr. Eggman huh?" Breezy mused. "All the more reason why I'll be enjoying this!"

The team of heroes jumped off the rails and landed on a metal platform that showed them a landscape of more canyons, "Wow, this could actually be a nice place to relax," Kera admired as she looked over with her hand over her eyes.

"The perfect place to see a sunset too," Samson added. "Too bad about the robots."

"Hey guys!" a voice called over. The group of heroes looked over to see to figures come towards them. One was flying and the other was jumping on the rocks. Soon, Jewels and Neo reached them. "Hey team. I see you got new friends along," Jewels greeted. "How goes it?"

"Not too good, but we're getting there," Athena said as some of the green faded from her face.

"Why hello there, senorita," Samson flirted as he tipped his hat, "And who might you be?"

"My, my. Aren't you the smooth talker?" Jewels flirted back as she battered her smoky eyes. "Name's Jewels the Echidna, handsome. Agent of G.U.N. This here is my superior, Radian the Phoenix."

"Hey," the phoenix in question waved.

"Nice to meet, yall," Marisa nodded with a carefree smiled. "Now shall we get going?"

"Of course, perhaps if we find Dr. Eggman's former base, it could give us a head start to where all these robots are coming from," Maria turned to Omega. "Omega, can you find a way to the old base?"

"Unconfirmed. Too much interference," Omega stated emotionlessly.

"There must be some radio scramblers hidden around the base," Radian thought out loud as he scratched his chin. "Look's like we have to find the base the hard way."

"Hehe! I like the hard way," Breezy said as she flex her hands together, allowing her knuckles to crack.

"Let's go everyone," Kera said as she unsheathed her sword.

"Right! Here we go!" Larcen nodded as he jumped to the next set of rails.

"Acknowledged. Initiating speed boosters," Omega said as he activated the jets on his back and followed Larcen. Everyone else followed suit.

Everyone jumped onto the rails and continued their way into the station. As they did, Breezy began asking Jewels something. "So Jewels, what brings you guys to the Bullet Station?"

"Well, after I helped Jam with finding two more pieces of the Master Emerald, Radian called me. He said that someone managed to break into the G.U.N. base and steal some data about the Sanpglyph.

"The Sanpglyph?" Kera asked as grinded up to earshot range. "Didn't the Blue Phantom drop a computer containing information about that in Kingdom Valley?"

"Wait, the Blue Phantom you say?" Radian asked.

"Yeah, someone who looked like a Phantom of the Opera rip off," Breezy nodded.

"I think he was the one who invaded the faculty," Jewels frowned.

"Is that right?" Larcen blinked.

"I'm not too sure what his motives are, but I'll find out," Jewels said indefinitely.

"You mean WE'LL find out," Athena said over them. "That guy saved Breezy from one of Mephiles' servants."

"Really?" Jewels blinked. "How interesting. Alright then, let's go to work."

"Warning! Warning! Enemy battalion approaching!" Omega suddenly alerted.

"What?" Marisa gasped.

"Prepare to engage oncoming battalion!" Omega continued.

"From what direction?" Maria asked.

They got their answer when some Rhino Liner trains came into view from some other track and fired the cannons at the tracks in front of the heroes, destroying it. They jumped off in time and landed on one of the mountain sides. When they did, the found themselves surrounded by an army of Egg Pawns.

"Aren't those Egg Pawns?" Gadget said with widened eyes.

"Yeah…" Breezy nodded. "Say Omega, does that mean-"

"Negative," Omega denied quickly, "Energy trace of Egg Pawns does not match that of Dr. Eggman."

"So then… why are they active?" Kera asked.

"Our only way of finding out is to get to the middle of the base," Larcen stated.

"Don't forget fighting these scrap brains," Samson said.

"Right, let's take them on!" Kera agreed as fire appeared on her blade. She sank it into the metal platform and swung it up, sending a fire wave at the Egg Pawns, engulfing them in flames.

"You aren't leaving me out of this!" Jewels grinned as she rushed into the fight and threw her fists at each of the on coming Egg Pawns. Each blow sent the robots flying out of sight. After kicking another away, Breezy dashed up to her and both grabbed hands. Jewels swung the hedgehog around as she kicked every single robot that tried to jump them. Then Jewels threw Breezy high into the air. When she was up high enough, Breezy curled up and came down on some more of the robots over her. As she collided, more robots were thrown out with a huge blast.

"Wow! Plenty of enemies around here!" Marisa exclaimed as she fired magic shots of darkness at the robots. Each shot made the bots vanished in a black flash.

"Tell me about it!" Larcen shouted as he kicked another robot. One Egg Pawn tried to pounce him with a sword. He jumped sidestepped from the attack and slashed its arm off with hit his dagger. Once that happened, he kicked it off the platform.

Samson and Radian had their backs against each other as the shot at more Egg Pawns and some other robots called Egg Flappers that came their way, Samson with his twin guns and Radian with his laser rifle. "You doing alright, amigo?" Samson asked.

"Just fine! It's not over yet, though!" Radian nodded as he continued firing.

"Take this! _Psycho Ball!_" Athena yelled as she fired her attack at two of the robots. They immediately exploded.

"Hey! Behind you!" Maria pointed.

"Huh?" Athena wondered as she turned and found an Egg Flapper about to fire. She grinned as fire appeared around her, just as the Egg Flapper began firing. Her flames neutralized the attacks. "Ah, ah, ah!" she taunted as she waved her finger. Then she ducked into a midair Spin Dash as the fire engulfed her. _"Scorch Wheel!" _she roared as she catapulted at the Egg Flapper and destroyed it.

"Are you ready for this?" Maria challenged as she turned back to the battle. She reared her hand back down as it glowed blue. _"Chaos Sniper!"_ she yelled threw it around and fired dark blue beams of energy. Each one hit the robot and exploded. The robots that tried to get away got blown up when the beams homed in on them in curving streaks. _"Chaos Megaton!" _She then turned her attention to the other set of robots to her side and rushed up to them as he fist glowed yellow. She threw it forward, sending an energy wave that blew them away.

"Primary targets located! Sites lock on!" Omega stated as he aimed his machine guns at the oncoming Egg Pawns. "Annihilation!" he exclaimed as he fired mercilessly at the weaker machines that didn't seem to be protected by shields. Each of the Egg Pawns fell to the ground, not moving. "Enemy targets down. Searching for new targets."

Kera was still busy slashing at any robot that came at her. Each one was slashed clean in half as they fell to the ground. She turned around and saw more robots approaching her. Finally having enough, she allowed her sword to be covered in ice vapors as she prepared of one of her attacks. _"Aisu Zero!"_ With one quick swing, all the robots ended up incased in blocks of ice. The flames appeared on her sword again as she jumped high. _"Nova Inferno!"_ She roared as she came down on the frozen enemies as a flaming comet. As she landed, there was a huge flaming explosion. After a few moments, the flames vanished with a swipe of Kera's sword.

"So, are there any more left?" Breezy asked as she came into view as she held onto Gadget's leg. The other's met up as she they landed.

"All signatures of suspicious robots have been eradicated from this area," Omega conformed.

"Good," Kera said as she sheathed her sword.

"However, my sensors detect another energy source in the core of the canyon. It is identical to the robots we defeated," Omega continued.

"Time to find the root of the problem," Radian said.

"Question is: how?" Larcen inquired.

Breezy looked around and found a huge four-nosed cannon above them. "We can use that!" she grinned as she ran into the entrance.

"Breezy! Wait!" Athena shouted as they ran after her. "Why won't she ever listen?"

Out were the cannon could be seen, it made a noise and the four noses of the cannon twirled around in a steady pace.

"It's moving!" Gadget gasped.

"Yahoo!" Breezy cheered.

"Hey! Where's the cannon facing!" Marisa panicked.

"This cannot be good," Kera gulped.

In five seconds, the heroes got shot out of the cannon and where sent flying deeper into the canyon. They quickly crashed and found themselves at the entrance of the base.

"Well… that was fun," Jewels moaned, still dizzy from the unpleasant flight.

"Let's… not do that again," Athena said as her world stopped spinning.

"Well, we made it. Now, let's have a look see," Breezy said as they went to the door.

Inside, the room was dark. Really dark. Everything there was in pitch black. "Wow, what is this place?" Marisa wondered as she looked around.

"Breezy…!" Gadget stammered as he hugged her waist. Breezy place her hand on his head for protection as she scanned the room.

"Alright, who's there?" Jewels demanded.

"Hehehehehe! So you've all managed to find me, did you?" A strange and oddly pleasant voice sneered. The lights flashed on one by one and showed a huge hawk like battleship in front of them. It was silver and green and it was armed with missiles and machine guns on the wings. Standing on it was an overweight man wearing blue shades and a yellow and black outfit. He also had a silver mustache.

"What? I thought so! It IS you after all Dr. Eggman!" Kera accused as she pointed at him.

"Wait, something is different about him… did you hit puberty doctor? Twice?" Breezy joked. This made the man irritated for a short moment.

"Well, I suppose you can say that I did change a little… eight months worth of it that is," the man said. "Allow me to tell you a story… sometime ago, I discovered a malevolent monster that could rival the power of Perfect Chaos. This monster's name is Ifrit. I discovered it sleeping in an alternate dimension of Hell know as the Chaotic Inferno in which its portal was located deep within the haunted mansion of Mystic Haunt. But the Ifrit was very weak when I found it. For it to return to its former glory, all I had to do was feed it a large amount of Chao."

"What?" Marisa shirked angrily.

"You monster!" Maria yelled as she balled her fists.

"Oh, please. My reputation precedes me," the man chuckled darkly. "Now I was about finish my goal but then a filthy blue hedgehog and his rodent friends interfered! They defeated the Ifrit and left me in the Chaotic Inferno to rot!" His pleasant face was gone and was replaced with a look of anger, "Do you realize how long I was stuck in there? Eight months! Eight months in that hellhole!"

"You got what was given to you, buddy," Jewels shrugged.

"But while eight months passed for me, it would appear that almost twenty years had passed here. The same hedgehog that interfered with me now has a daughter," the man finished.

"So then you're like another Eggman or something?" Breezy raised an eyebrow.

"I am… Eggman Nega," he bowed, "The number one genius in the universe with the power to create dimension warps! A wanted to exact revenge on Sonic and his friends by destroying them myself, but I believe I'll take pleasure of destroying his only heir instead!" Eggman Nega jumped into the cockpit and activated his machine. Slowly, the blinking lights came on as the engines came to life. "Allow me to introduce you all to your doom: the Egg Hawk R!"

As the fans on the wings began to spin, wind around the room began to blow. This made Kera, Marisa and Maria hold on to their skirts. "Wow! The wind speeds are abnormal!" Gadget yelled over the wind as he continued to hug Breezy's waist.

"Come on! Let's move!" Kera yelled. Everyone ran out as the Egg Hawk R flew after them. As they jumped out the door, it crashed through the wall above them and flew up.

"That thing is coming back," Radian said as he got up and saw the Egg Hawk R dive back down.

"Well, if he wants a fight, then let's give him one!" Breezy frowned as she tensed.

The Egg Hawk R began to shoot the machine guns as it got closer. The heroes managed to escape from the attack and jump rails to get way. But the Egg Hawk R immediately stopped its descent, turned around and flew after them.

"Ugh! We can't shake him!" Athena frowned as she looked behind her.

"That guy must be really pissed off at our dads if he's really that desperate to rip us a new one," Jewels commented.

"We have to take this fight to higher grounds," Larcen said as he looked at the higher mountain peeks.

"I don't like it," Athena muttered, "But let's give it a shot!"

They went into a loop, causing Athena's stomach to do flips and making them move faster into through the tracks. The Egg Hawk R didn't slow down, though. In fact, it sped up with them. As the rails reached closer to the mountain peeks, they took their chance and jumped to several tops. The Egg Hawk R hovered right in front of them.

"So you are finally making this easy on yourselves?" Eggman Nega grinned, "Good! I'll make this as quick and painless as I can!"

"Not really, Doc!" Breezy said as she wagged her finger at him. "It's a little something called 'touch and go!'" When she said this, she curled into a ball and slammed into the beak of the Egg Hawk R. This damaged a laser blaster that was contained there.

"What? You little!" Eggman Nega snarled as the Egg Hawk R chased the purple blur through the canyon.

"That's our que! After them!" Maria shouted as the heroes jumped on the canyons and grinded on the rails to catch up.

Breezy jumped from summit to summit as she swiftly prevaricated each of the missile fires from the Egg Hawk R. Each failed attack made Eggman Nega increasingly upset. The only ones he gave him this kind of trouble were Sonic and Blaze.

'How can that child be so nimble?' the mad scientist thought to himself, 'The missiles are 100% accurate heat seeking warheads. And yet she managed not to get hit once! Perhaps she really is the daughter of Sonic the Hedgehog…'

Breezy stopped for a short moment to look at the Egg Hawk R still advancing at her. More missiles fired and Breezy took off again in a sonic second. She jumped across three more summits as the missiles exploded on each one. She did a handstand on one and, with her strong arms, hurled herself to another summit just as the missile hit. She landed and skidded on a walkway. As the Egg Hawk R seemingly cornered her, Eggman Nega cackled darkly as the weapons of the machine locked on to her. Breezy just smiled as she pointed over him.

"Hmmm….?" Eggman Nega wondered as he looked at the said direction. At that minute, Jewels came down with her fist like a blinding missile. Eggman Nega made an… epic bullet time maneuver to avoid her. But it wasn't really the Egg Hawk R she was aiming for; it was the summit next to it. Her fist struck her target and a forceful vibration erupted as the middle portion of the summit crumbled off and started to fall on the Egg Hawk R. Eggman Nega pulled the pilot controller to make the Egg Hawk R move back and make half the summit fall into the chasm.

"Over here, big boy!" Kera shouted as she grinded on a rail that was underneath the Egg Hawk R. She brought her Dragon Sword out and made the crest turn yellow. Electricity formed on it in a yellow glow. She jumped up, pointed her sword forward and became engulfed with electricity as she flew at the bottom of the machine. _"Elector Rising!"_ she roared as she turned into an electrified comet. The Egg Hawk R was surprisingly fast though as it moved back even farther; Kera missed her target and went up like a shooting star. As she got up higher, she did a midair summersault and made her sword glow with fire. She swung around wildly while still in midair, sending fire blasts around, but not really hitting the machine.

"Have you even heard of a thing called aim?" Eggman Nega taunted as another attack exploded somewhere.

"Heh," the flames on her sword disappeared as the Sword Demon landed on an untouched summit. She hefted her blade on her shoulders as she smirked at him, "Have you ever heard of anything called a stall tactic?"

Eggman Nega blinked under his shades at her reply, but then noticed Athena and Marisa gaining up on him. Athena was using her psychokinesis to fly and she did the same with Marisa to support her. "Ready, Marisa?" Athena said as she stopped over the Egg Hawk R. "Concentrate your power with mine!"

"Got it!" the teenaged sage nodded.

Athena's two hands glowed with fire and psychic energy as Marisa made a ball of wind in her hands. The pushed their powers together and got ready to attack. "Eat this!" the girls yelled as the fired a beam of fire and wind contained with psychokinesis.

"Damn it all!" Eggman Nega yelled as he fired a series of missiles to counter the attack. Both it and made powerful explosions as they continued they assault. After a few moments, Eggman Nega managed to push the power levels a bit and made the missiles push the blast away. As a result, Athena and Marisa were thrown through the air, screaming.

"Hang on!" Larcen said as he jumped on some peeks before managing to grab both Athena and Marisa. They landed on another walkway safely.

"Whew! That was too close for comfort!" Athena heaved.

"Yeah, thanks for the save Larcen," Marisa smiled. The navy hedgehog replied with a wink.

"Alright, since up close attacks won't work, let's try sharp shooting!" Samson said as he, Radian and Omega grinded nearby. They fired their guns at the machine, the shots hit their mark, but it wasn't much due to the armor. They did manage to knock of some weapons though. It wasn't long before Eggman Nega noticed this and began firing missiles at them. They managed to jump away as the missiles destroyed the rails. They landed on a walkway as they met up with the others.

"Man, this guy is insane," Breezy panted.

"How are we supposed to beat him? Gadget asked.

"Hmm, interesting," Omega said as he looked at the Egg Hawk R.

"What is?" Radian asked.

"Our guns may not have been able to do that much damage, but we managed to blow off some of the ship's weapons," Omega informed.

"Is that so?" Kera said. "Alright, new plan. We take out all the weapons of that ship so that Eggman Nega will be rendered defenseless. We'll finish him off in one blast!"

"Roger!" They all nodded.

"Right, let's go!" Breezy shouted as they all dashed at the Egg Hawk R again.

"Heehehehe! What is this?" Eggman Nega sneered as he saw them coming, "A frontal assault? Must we do this all over again?"

"Not this time!" Maria shouted as she fired two Chaos Blooms at the missile launchers.

"We know your weakness this time! You are helpless without your weapons!" Kera said as she swooped in deep enough to avoid the machine fire and slice off the guns. The armor was too thick for her sword to cut through. Larcen managed to land on the wings and cut off all the weapons there. Soon, there were no weapons left. Eggman Nega didn't seem to mind though.

"You fools!" he laughed. "You honestly thought that you could defeat me by removing my artillery? Behold!" He pushed some buttons and made new weapons appear where the other ones were removed.

"Shoot! Like a gecko recovering its tail!" Kera growled.

"But look!" Jewels pointed. "We managed to do some damage so all we need to do is keep it up!"

"Now you've asked for it!" Eggman Nega yelled as the laser blaster began to fire a concentrated beam. The Egg Hawk R spun around, making some more structures become damaged as even fall as the heroes manage to avoid every sweep.

"It's now or never! Let's bust a move!" Breezy commanded they jumped in. The Egg Hawk R began firing the machine guns and the missiles as they came, but it didn't stop them. Maria jumped into the air after going passed the missile and did several Chaos Bloom attacks. Marisa followed up by firing lighting blasts at the machine. Athena made a ball of psycho energy and filled it with fire, hurling it at the Egg Hawk R. The bomb exploded and blew off all the weapons of the ship.

"What? No matter! I'll just create more!" Eggman Nega shouted as he typed on the controls.

"Won't give you that chance!" Breezy shouted. "Now you guys!"

Kera and Radian ran on adjacent summits as Kera's sword glowed in fire and Radian's wings did as well. They jumped high, right over the wings. Preparing to attack, they called out their special moves.

_"Nova Inferno!"_

_"Phoenix Blade!"_

They two came down like burning missiles on the Egg Hawk R. They hit the fans of wings and made them explode in huge flames.

"What? No!" Eggman Nega yelled as he gripped the controls hard.

"Gadget! Let's rock and roll!" Breezy grabbed onto Gadget's leg as he flew at the burning machine. As the got close enough, Breezy tossed herself into the air and curled into a ball as Gadget followed her movements. The two spinballs slammed into the Egg Hawk R with one final explosion.

"Don't think this is over!" Eggman Nega yelled as he escaped on his Nega Mobile. "I'll be back!"

The thick cloud vanished as Breezy and Gadget landed back on the walkway. "Wow that was fun! We should do that again, sometime…" Breezy said as looked where the machine exploded.

"Well, whoever he was, he'll be back for more," Jewels said. "Looks like its nothing for us left to find here. We're heading back. Good luck," she took Radian by the arms and flew out of the canyon.

"Time for us to leave too," Kera said.

"Yeah, let's see where else we need to go," Maria nodded.

With that in mind, the other heroes left back for Station Square, ready for another challenge that tried to stop them.

* * *

Hidden in the forests of Mystic Ruins, a shadowed figure sat in a pod, looking at a screen. He had been watching the fight in the Bullet Station and was quite impressed to say the least.

"Well now, this is good," he said whimsically to himself. Then he noticed something on the screen. "Who is that?" he zoomed in on the picture, focusing on a younger purple hedgehog. He couldn't see her the last time because of her speed.

"What a babe, I'll bet she's single. Maybe I'll drop by and say hi," he said as he laughed to himself. With that, the pod took off into the sky.


	9. AfterBurner

**Ch 9: AfterBurner**

"Phew!" Breezy sighed as she sat on her bed and rubbed her sore shoulders. "What a workout! I never expected any of that!"

"Uh… hey, Breezy?" Gadget asked timidly as he waddled up to her. "Can I help you with that? I can if you want…"

"Hm?" She looked to her right and stared at her best friend with a mischievous smile. "Are you suggesting something, cutie-pie?" she asked slyly as she rose an eyebrow.

"Ahh! N-no! It's nothing like that! Honest!" Gadget exclaimed bashfully, his cheeks red and hands waving.

"Hehehehe! Chillax little buddy! I was just playing with you," Breezy laughed playfully. 'I love it when I get him all riled up. He's a lot cuter when he's all flustered,' she added inwardly. She looked back at her half-Thorndrigan fox friend with a happy smile. "So what did you have in mind, Gadget? A massage? I could actually use one right now."

"Y-yeah," Gadget nodded as he hopped behind her. Shyly, he gripped her shoulders and gently rubbed them. Breezy made a slight squeak of surprise, and then reduced to moaning in relaxation. He was surprisingly good at what he was doing and she was really enjoying it. While she was enjoying it, she couldn't help but notice that he was being a bit hesitant. 'Same ol' Gadget,' she thought to herself. After she felt nice and loose, she gently took his hands and bushed them off.

"That was really nice," she smiled at him. "But maybe you could use one too."

"Huh?" was his only reply.

"Come here," She grinned as she took him by the waist and moved to the center of her bed. She sat down, spread her legs out and pulled his back up to her chest. He regained the red tint on his face as he felt her B-cup breasts pressed against his back. Then she began massaging his shoulders and arms. Slowly, he relaxed in her arms as she began to gently rock back and forth, taking him with her. "How do you feel?"

"Really nice," he sighed as he put on a soft smile.

"That's good," she smiled as she continued knead him. "Just relax for a little while more, alright?"

"Hm... alright."

* * *

"Yeah, this is quite easy," Violet said as she looked through the Gaia Library. "Eggman Nega. Just like he said."

After that high flying adventure in Bullet Station, Breezy informed the Sisters Prower Twins of Eggman Nega. Needless to say they were both surprise to her of their being not one but TWO Eggmen. This put in wonders if the other Eggman, the one of this world, is still alive somewhere. Regardless, Violet took another trip in the Gaia Library to do some research.

"What does it say?" Daisy asked.

"Eggman Nega is apparently both a darker mirror image of Dr. Eggman and the descendant of him from the future. He is much more cruel, intelligent and sinister then that of his ancestor. He is also quite the gentleman."

"A gentlemanly evil scientist…" Daisy replied as she flicked her hair behind her pointed left ear. "That's something new. Breezy told us about that incident with the Ifrit. Anything else we should know about?"

"Sometimes, the two Eggmen would team up together for a world domination plot. Each team up ended up in failure though. There was one other incident before that whole bit with the Ifrit where Eggman Nega tried to turn everyone on Earth into cards. He did it to change the destiny of the Robotnik clan so he could be the ruler of the future."

"Wow," Daisy blinked.

"Yeah, I know," Daisy said as she returned to the real world with the information fresh in her mind. "Well, at least we now know what to expect from him. How goes the search for the Emeralds, by the way?"

"I think I found a much better this time, sis," Daisy said as she twirled her finger around playfully. "Speed Highway is a twisting turnpike that doesn't seem to have much traffic. You know, I always wondered how all the cars are always able to make through; I mean, with all the spins and loops. How do you think everyone is able to do it? It's so huge and twisted and-"

"You're running your mouth again," Violet said as she folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Oh, was I?" Daisy smiled sheepishly as she scratched that back of her head.

"Well, I'd better go tell everyone about this."

* * *

Speed Highway wasn't that much of a booming freeway area. There were barely any cars around and the roars were all twisted and such. Did this even classify as highway?

"Huh, interesting place," Kera mused as she looked around.

"Yeah, I can't believe this is a freeway," Marisa added.

"So there is a Chaos Emerald here?" Larcen asked.

"Yeah, I can sense it from here," Maria nodded. "It's a little faint, but it's defiantly the presence of a Chaos Emerald."

"Huh?" Athena blinked as she looked up, "Look!"

Everyone did so, and wouldn't you know it! Robots everywhere came falling from the sky. These were different from the pirate robots or Eggman Nega's robots though. These were new robots.

"Oh that's just wonderful," Kera frowned.

"Heh. Looks like we get to bash some more scrap brains, amigos!" Samson grinned as he twirled his gun.

"And how are we supposed to catch up with them?" Larcen questioned. "Not all of us have the gift of speed."

"Well, you could use these!" Gadget smiled as took out four balls. He threw them down and in a puff of smoke four light cycles appeared. The colors were red, blue, green and yellow.

"Whoa!" Lacren gasped.

"Qué máquinas asombrosas!" Samson exclaimed.

"Wow, this is incredible Gadget!" Marisa grinned.

"Yeah, well, I made them when I was bored. I call them Dust Strikers," Gadget smiled bashfully as he shuffled his foot.

"That's my little buddy!" Breezy grinned as she ruffled his hair playfully.

"And it paid off, didn't it? Now we have something to go through the highway," Kera said as she hopped on the green Dust Striker. As she revved it to get the feel of it, she couldn't help but smile.

"Now Breezy, you, Maria, Kagome and Gadget go through one section of the highway while the rest of us go through the other section. That way well take out most of the robots," Larcen instructed.

"Sure thing!" she nodded. "Alright guys, time to jam!"

"Omega, go with them," Maria said.

"Roger."

Larcen, Marisa and Samson got on the red, blue and yellow Strikers and the five of them went ahead. Meanwhile, Breezy and her friends went off on the other side of the highway.

* * *

"Hey, Breeze. How 'bout a race?" Athena challenged.

"You sure?" Breezy grinned sassily, "We all know that I'm the fastest girl in the universe!"

"Yeah, we know we'll lose," Gadget smiled as he sweatdroped.

"Ok guys; let's blast through in true speed!" Breezy said as she blasted through the highway with her friends in tow.

The four friends begin speeding down the road in neck breaking speed. Breezy was already in front with Gadget right at her heels. Maria and Athena were very close behind. The world around them was but a mere blur.

"You sure you still wanna do this?" Breezy yelled over the wind.

"Hey, don't worry about us!" Athena yelled back. "We're doing just fine!"

"Hey, watch out!" Maria pointed. About some yards away from them, huge robots with maces appeared ready to smash their huge weapons on them.

"Here they come!" Gadget gasped.

"No worriers!" Breezy smiled as she curled into a ball. She ricocheted forward and ripped through three robots in a row. Each one each one exploded one by one.

"Hang on! I'll help out!" Maria as she jumped at another robot. She made a swift kick at the head, forcing it to come off. The robot stood there for a few moments after she jumped into the air before it fell off the street. As she came down, she aimed her two feet at the next robot and crushed its armor as she came down. It exploded as she skated down the streets again.

"Don't forget about me!" Athena said as she engulfed herself in fire. As she ran passed each of the robots as the tried to crush her and set each of them ablaze. The circuitry melted and they exploded instantly.

"Come on! Step up the beat!" Breezy said as the friends continued through the highway.

"I've got you covered, everybody!" Gadget said as he managed to reach Breezy.

"That's the sprit, Gadget!" Maria cheered as she glided right behind them.

"Hang on! More robots are headed this way!" Athena alerted as she saw some drone robots approaching them.

"Alright, you dung bots! Come and get some!" Breezy grinned as she increased her speed and made a barrier appeared around her. She smashed into each of the drones and made them bounce around like pinballs. She was really enjoying herself and the sounds of her cheering proved that.

"Oh man, she's really enjoying herself isn't she?" Athena mused out loud as she caught up.

"Well, father did say that she was a nitwit like her dad," Maria replied.

"Yeah! This is why I totally love the city, desu!" Breezy exclaimed happily as she jumped to the building and began running on the walls and rooftops.

"Hey, wait up!" Gadget pleaded as they struggled to keep up with her yet again.

* * *

The scene switches to Kera's group as they blazed through the highway on their motorcycles with Omega in tow. They were going really fast, thanks to the motor Gadget installed in them.

"How about a race, Samson?" Marisa grinned as she got up next to him.

"Hah! You're on, senorita!" he smirked.

"We do not have the time for play," Omega said as he pushed his boosters forwards. "We must find the Chaos Emerald."

"Omega's right. You two can play with the Dust Strikers all you want once we're done," Kera added.

"Oh, come on! Why not mix work with play once in a while?" Marisa pouted.

"You looking to play, Marisa?" Lacren said as he pointed forward. "Then play those!"

Everyone turned up to see the same large robots, armed with maces appearing in front of them. They raised their weapons, ready to bring them down.

"That'd it'll do!" Marisa grinned as she revved up ahead and fired shots of thunder. It took a bit of time but her targets managed to go down. As she dash passed them, they exploded completely.

Kera was next at bat as she drew out her sword. One of the robots threw the mace at her as she approached. With a swift swing, she sliced both the mace and the chains that held it. Then she popped her rider into the air and slashed the robot in half. Another robot threw its mace at her and slammed into the concrete in front of her. She popped her Striker again and road on the chains. As soon as she reached the shoulder that supported it, she sliced the robot in two and jumped off as it exploded.

"Looks like we get to have some fun here nonetheless!" Samson grinned.

"Yeah, whatever," Kera shrugged as she revved up ahead.

"More enemy robots approaching," Omega said as he looked through his radar.

"What?" Larcen gasped

Indeed they were. Some gunner robots appeared from the sky and began firing machine guns. The group began riding in and out of the way from the attacks. Samson retaliated with firing his twin guns at the machines as Omega helped out with his guns. Some of them went down when they got hit. "This is more fun then an arcade machine!" Samson laughed.

"My turn!" Marisa fired a glowing ball of light at a bunch of gunner bots that were clustered together. As it exploded, they vanished all together. More gunner bots took their place soon after.

"Where are all of these robots coming form?" Kera hissed as she used her sword to shoot blots of electricity at the oncoming machines.

"All we need to do is follow the trail of where the robots are coming from," Larcen said. "If we do that, we can find the source of that and put a halt to it."

"Good thinking," Marisa nodded. "You ready, Kera?"

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Kera agreed as they blasted faster into the highway.

* * *

After spending the afternoon of going through the streets, the heroes reunited with each other again and met up at an intersection. This is where they detected the Chaos Emerald.

"Well at least I beat you here!" Athena teased Breezy

"Ha, in your dreams kitty cat," Breezy shot back. "I'm STILL the fastest!"

"We can continue this later, ladies," Larcen said as he walked passed them. "We have a Chaos Emerald we need to look for."

"Oh, yeah… huh, that's funny," Breezy said.

"What is?" Marisa asked.

"The Chaos Emerald is moving… and it's coming right towards us," Athena said.

"So someone found it before us?" Marisa said with eyes widened.

"Looks like it," Kera frowned. "And that someone is coming right this way."

"How right you are, pretty young thing," a new voice said.

Kera silently seethed at the nickname as they turned to the source of the voice. There the found a huge grey mauler machine armed with shoulder machine guns and a pincer and a mace for hands. The legs were bent forward and the armor looked pretty strong. Standing on the right shoulder was a young man around fifteen with shoulder length blond hair. He wore a red uniform, marked with brass buttons and gold linings on his arms. He wore white gloves and black trousers, also lined with linings, dark gray instead of gold. In his hand, he held the blue Chaos Emerald.

"So, you all are looking for the Chaos Emerald, right?" the boy said as his he eyed all of them.

"Yes, we are. And who are you?" Breezy said with an arched eyebrow. She didn't seem to like the guy.

A wily smile appeared on his face. "I'll tell you what, let's make I trade. I'll give you the Chaos Emerald… for a kiss."

"WHAT?" Breezy exclaimed with a red face. "You creep! No way! Who do think you are?"

"What?" the boy shrugged with the smile not leaving his face, "Aww, how rude. A saw you're little rumble in Bullet Station and I thought maybe congratulations were in order. Anyway, since you asked, it's Snively. Snively Robotnik."

"Robotnik… you're related to Dr. Eggman?" Maria gasped.

"Yeah… say you girls are the daughters of my uncle's enemies, is that right?" Snively continued smoothly. "Now this is pretty interesting. Wish my uncks could see this. Although, after what your dads did to him, I don't think he'll be his old self again."

"Oh man, this guy is so creepy," Athena shuddered.

"Oh shut up!" Breezy growled as she got into a fighter stance. "You obviously aren't going to go quietly so let's fight!"

"Breezy, clam down," Lacren pleaded.

"Yeah, he's just messing with you," Kera added.

"Sweet and feisty… I love it!" Snively grinned as he jumped into the cockpit. The machine moved its arms up and clashed them together. "Alright then, have your way. Maybe my Egg Bishop can convince you otherwise."

"I hope I don't regret leaving my pops' Copy Emerald," Breezy muttered as she looked at the machine.

"Ha!" Snively shouted as he sank the pincer arm in and dragged through the concrete. The force it created some kind of energy blast that zipped through the field. It went right passed everyone.

"Whoa, what was that?" Marisa blinked.

"I think he was just trying to psyche us out," Kera said as she took out her blade. "What pathetic attempt."

"What was that?" Snively frowned as he as he threw the pincer at her. Kera brought up her sword and blocked each strike that he dished out. After managing to push the pincer out of her face, she rushed up and did some slashes on the machine.

"Hey! Watch it!" Snively snapped as he threw the pincer at her again. She managed to jump out of the way in time, be he moved the pincer at her again and again. After managing to get from taking a hit thrice, she got knocked in the face and slammed into a car. She slid down and rubbed her head, hurting.

"Take this! _Fire Psycho Bomb!"_ Athena shouted as she made a fire bomb with her psychokinesis and launched it at the Egg Bishop. The shot was true as it made heavy damage on the machine.

"Huh, I'm being to see why my uncle always loses to your dads," Snively commented after he managed to gain control of the mech. "Looks like its true about what they with there being chips off the old blocks…"

"Well, you might as well give up anyway," Athena frowned, "We're gonna beat you, the same way our parents beat your uncle!"

"That's where you're wrong," Snively said as he raised the mace, "See, I'm way smarter than Uncle Ivo. I'm three moves ahead of you… lights out!"

He threw the mace down at Maria, but she managed to grab it with her hand. The heaviness of the attack made her skid on the ground for a bit with the concrete cracking below her boots. She threw it back with full force and it hit the Egg Bishop right out on the chest. "What were you saying about thinking three moves ahead?"

"Alright, I wasn't expecting that," Snively admitted as he recovered. "But it doesn't mean I'm ill prepared." The machine guns moved a bit for charging up. "Fire!" The guns fired shots of plasma energy, forcing the heroes to scatter.

Athena managed to back away with some back flips, but when the plasma shots came up to her, her hands glowed in energy. "_Psycho Mirror!"_ She yelled as she made a red shield appear in front of her. The shield blocked the barrage and sent several back, forcing Snively to cut the attack.

"There's plenty more where that came from! _Tombstone__!"_ Maria brought out a wall of rock from the ground and threw it at the Egg Bishop.

"Have some of this!" Marisa shouted as she used her fire magic to set the wall on fire. The burning rock slammed into the machine for extra damage.

"Oh so that's the way you want to play?" Snively frowned. "Fine!" He moved the mace in front of him and made it spin around. Then sharp lasers blasts came out of the spikes as he moved it around.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Marisa panted as she and Samson ran for cover. Larcen blocked the attack with his barrier as Omega held his ground and opened fire.

"That's not all this baby can do!" Snively sneered. He slammed the mace into the ground and dragged it in front. Lasers blasted through the ground as he did. This made everyone jump around wildly.

"Darn, what a colossus!" Gadget frowned as he hovered over his hedgehog friend.

"Yeah, I didn't think it'd be this hard!" Breezy added.

"My Egg Bishop is armed with loads of repercussions. It also as high resistance, so don't think you can put it down so easily," Snively boasted. "You can stop this at anytime, babycakes. All you gotta do is give me a peck," he added as he made smooching noises.

"Knock it off!" Breezy snapped. "Even if I get hung upside by my feet with blood rushing to my head, there's still no way I'd kiss you!" Gadget was also hurt and angered, but kept it to himself.

"Yeah, cut it out! You disgust me!" Marisa nodded furiously.

"Hmm… playing hard to get are you?" Snively frowned as he folded his arms. "Not bad, not bad at all. Too bad I'm not the kind of guy who likes to wait!" He continued the fight by swinging his mace wildly. Twice by smashing it on the ground and once more by swing it along the ground. When it did that, lasers came out randomly.

"Aye carumba! He must really have the hots for senorita Breezy!" Samson shouted as he ducked from one mace attack and shot his guns at the machine.

"The hots?" Larcen said as he jump out of another attack. "More like he's obsessed with her!"

Breezy jumped over the mace before giving them a look. "Is that right? He might have looks, but I bet the reason he can't get a girl is because he can't attract one! In fact, he looks kinda girly of you ask me!" That was all Snively needed to grab Breezy with his pincers and bring her up to him. "Hey! You jerk!" she spat as she struggled. "Let me go!" She tried to move the pincers with her super strength, but the grip was to strong.

Snively grinned as the glass of his cockpit moved up. "Oh, don't be like that," he licked his lips. "Just let me do whatever I want and I'll hand you the Chaos Emerald. How's that?"

Breezy's eyes blazed in fury. She couldn't move her arms, but at least she could still kick him in the face! Before she could use do a counterattack, however, something came from out of the sky and cut through the pincers, making it fall with Breezy. The projectile hit the ground and was shown to be another blue rose. Seeing her chance to escape, Breezy slowly managed to break free from the pincers. Problem was, the pincers were right on top of her. She could get crushed. Luckily, a black blur grabbed her and landed on a lamppost just as the pincers landed with a crash.

"What the?" Snively blinked at the sparking gash that used to be one of his weapons. He looked up to where the blur took Breezy and boiled at the newcomer. "You bastard!"

There on the lamppost stood the Blue Phantom with his cape flowing in the wind and Breezy in his arms. The said hedgehog looked up at him with a surprised look on her face. "From the land of water and flames, tea in the morning sun, comes the goodwill ambassador of love and destiny."

**The Goodwill Ambassador of Love and Destiny!**

"I am the Blue Phantom."

"You bastard!" Snively roared, "Breezy is mine! You hear? MINE!"

The Phantom merely threw a rose at Snively's forehead to shut him up. Well, more to just torture him since he cawed in pain. "A young girl's heart is something that cannot be taken. It is something that must be earned," the Phantom said disapprovingly.

"The Phantom is back," Kera frowned as she tensed into a stance.

"Wait a moment," Larcen said as he waved his arm in front of her. "I think he's here to help."

Snively pulled the rose out of his head and was left with a small bleeding gash. "You're in my way!" He shouted as he aimed his machine guns at the pair.

The Blue Phantom jumped down from the pole and place Breezy back on her feet. "Breezy, I need you to combine your power with mine," the Phantom said as he made an orange glow appear on his hand.

Breezy was slightly unsure about what he had in mind, but nodded. "OK." She took the Phantom's hand and combined her Chaos Powers with whatever power he had. This made the glow turn yellow.

"Now take this!" Snively yelled as he fired the machine guns at them.

"Watch out!" Maria screamed.

"Now Breezy!" the Phantom signaled.

_"Aura Barrage!"_ The pair shouted as a wide yellow barrier appeared around them. The shots were absorbed by the barrier and made it increase in size. Once the Aura Shield had enough strength, Breezy and the Phantom kicked it right at the Egg Bishop. The attack hit cleared and destroyed the machine on impact. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes from the blinding destruction. As it cleared, they could see Snively in a red hovercraft, looking not too pleased.

"Looks like you lose this time," Snively said as he gave the Emerald a small toss. "Don't think I'm done! I'll make Breezy my girl yet!" he swore as he flew off.

"Thanks for helping us deal with that creep," Breezy said to the Phantom as she smiled at him.

"It is no trouble," the Phantom nodded.

"I have a question that I would like to ask you," Kera began as she walked up to him.

"And what question is that, Sword Demon?" he asked her. "There are some questions which I can answer and some which I cannot."

"Did you steal the information of the Sanpglyph from the G.U.N. fortress?"

The Phantom paused for a moment, "…I did."

"Why?"

"Mephiles is after it, along with the Chaos Emeralds," he explained. "If he finds the Sanpglyph, he will bring about a terrible army."

"What kind of terrible army?" Marisa asked timidly.

"I gave the computer to you. You figure it out."

"I have another question," Breezy said. "Who exactly are you?"

"That is a question which I cannot answer."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Breezy pouted.

"Listen to me, all of you. You must get the Chaos Emerald from Snively's base. It is New Robotropolis and it located deep within Mystic Ruins. Be very careful. It is riddled with powerful robots and security traps. It is best if you move with stealth and avoid getting caught," he informed them.

"Sure, thanks for the tip," Larcen nodded.

"Good. Just remember that Mephiles is still looking for the Chaos Emeralds and the Sanpglyph. Find them before he does, and your parents will turn up soon," he said as he turned around with a wave of his cape. "Gadget, be sure to look after Breezy, just as she looks after you."

"Uh… okay," he nodded.

"Adieu." With that, he jumped away, leaving another blue rose behind. Breezy walked up to it and picked it up.

"Blue Phantom… just who are you?" she wondered.

"Well, you heard him. We have to get the Emerald back," Athena said.

"Right, let's get moving," Breezy nodded.

"Affirmative," Omega said.

The team of heroes trekked back to their hideout to continue a plan of action. Breezy still could get her mind away from the Blue Phantom though. Who was that guy? Where did he come from? And more importantly, how did he know her? This was beginning to make her head spin.


	10. Do You Like Her?

**Ch 10: Do You Like Her?  
**

Snively placed his newly acquired Emerald on the pillar. Stepping back, he pressed a button on his watch. Instantly, a blue force field appeared around it, protecting it from outside forces. A small fly buzzed toward the force field, thinking it was some kind of lantern. However, once it reached it, there was a huge shock for a microsecond, frying the fly. When the flash dimmed, the fly was now just a puff of smoke. Satisfied, Snively turned to his robot behind him.

"Get a team and keep this perimeter secure," the robot saluted and went off.

Snively smiled to himself, liking how things were going so far. "Only a matter of time uncle… I'll get the Chaos Emeralds to restore you back to normal, then I can show you how great I am…" with nothing else to do, he out of the room and returned to his post.

* * *

"Well the Phantom said that we should go to New Robotropolis to get the Emerald. Any ideas?" Larcen asked.

"Don't look at me!" Breezy said as she threw a disgusted look. "I am NOT going in there!"

"Well, someone has to go," Marisa insisted.

"Well, I'm not going. Nope. You can't make me," Breezy argued as she crossed her arms.

After returning to the hideout, the heroes began to discus ways of getting into the New Robotropolis. Daisy already managed to locate were the base was. Breezy was up in arms in not going at all, due to the little skirmish with Eggman's nephew, Snively. The guy totally freaked her out.

"Well, I guess I can go then," Maria volunteered.

"Yeah, me too," Larcen nodded.

"You guys looking to sneak into a base?" they all turned to the source of the voice and found Zed leaning on a doorway with a cocky look. "Count me in this one!"

"What? You want to come with us?" Maria blinked.

"Oh, yeah. I've been bored out of my mind as of late and I wanna look for something to do," he continued as he walked up to them.

"What's up Zed?" Violet smirked, "Had a change of heart?"

"Watch it, half-extraterrestrial," he threatened menacingly.

"Question is: how are you going to get into that base?" Kera said.

"Easy. I'll use Chaos Control," Maria replied rather smugly.

"Chaos Control?" Marisa blinked. "Wouldn't you need a Chaos Emerald to pull that off?"

"Did you forget already?" Breezy stated. "Maria here is the daughter of Shadow the Hedgehog. All the Chaos Emerald does for her is amplify Chaos Control to another level. Maria can do it without one."

"Cool," Marisa gaped with eyes widened.

"Yeah, but she can't use Chaos Control properly without a Chaos Emerald," Athena pointed out. "Even with our Copy Emerald something could go wrong. Last time that happened, we were nearly eaten by a Tyrannosaurus. You sure you want to do this, Maria?"

"We haven't got much of a choice," Maria told her.

Daisy went up to Maria and gave her the coordinates for New Robotropolis, "Here you are guys."

"Thank you," she nodded. "Alright, now stand back the rest of you."

Everyone did as she asked. Once the coast was clear, Maria's dreadlocks glowed blue in Positive Chaos Energy.

_"Chaos Control!"_

There was a bright flash of blue light and Maria and her chosen group had vanished from out of site. At the moment, Breezy and Athena shuddered.

"What is it?" Kera asked.

"I think something happened when Maria used Chaos Control. I did have a bad feeling about this," Athena answered with uncertainty.

"Well, I'm sure it was nothing this time," Daisy shrugged.

"Somehow, I'm not too sure about that," Breezy remarked.

* * *

After the bumpy teleportation ride, they ended up in a small, outer corridor, where a loud, electric hum filled their ears. They could see the sunset right above them.

"So this is New Robotropolis," Maria said as she looked around. "I should have expected as much from the nephew of Eggman."

"Right, so what's the word?" Zed asked as he tapped his foot.

Larcen silently pointed at the entrance where dozens of small, sparking, robotic jellyfish were floating around in the hall, looking this way and that, as if they were searching for something.

"Snively's cronies?" Zed asked.

"They know we're here. I don't know why, though," Larcen frowned.

Suddenly, something poked Zed in the shoulder; he gave a surprised yelp and whipped around. Eli stood behind him, smiling cheerfully. "What're you guys looking at?" she asked.

"How did you get here?" Maria whispered in a horrified tone, "You must have been what I felt during the Chaos Control!"

"I was looking for Zed," she said as she held out a touch screen phone, "He lost his iPhone-G."

Zed swiftly snatched it from her, "You shouldn't be here, brat!" he hissed. "This is New Robotropolis! You're going back!"

"I don't think that will be possible," Maria interrupted grimly, "If I use Chaos Control now, there's a chance that the robots will find out what's going on. We can't risk that."

"You mean I have to baby-sit again!" Zed snapped, almost yelling.

"Quiet!" Larcen hissed.

"Is that right?" Eli giggled as she scratched her head. "Look's like I'm coming along."

"Oi vey," Maria said wistfully as she rolled her eyes. "We should be going."

"I would have never come along if I knew THIS was going to happen," Zed growled.

"Whatever you do, stay behind us," Maria told her. Eli replied with a nod.

Maria quickly glided in front with her boots. She took a quick peek into the entrance and saw that the coast was clear. She motioned her friends to follow and the team of four walked into the base.

It was a while after they began going into the base, but Eli seemed to bet bored quickly since they were very careful not to arouse the robots. She decided to kill time by having a small chat with Larcen.

"So Larcen, I noticed that you've been sticking around Marisa a lot," she said as she clasped her hands together.

"Marisa?" Larcen said as he looked at her. "We've been the best of friends for a long time."

"How long? Since you were young?"

"Yeah," Larcen said, smiling fondly, "We used to travel a lot. It was rough, but also kinda fun."

"What was your adventures like? I mean, you don't mind telling me, do you?"

"Not too much. Anyway, I guess I can tell you about one of our trials, when we we're younger… "

_Five Years Ago…._

_The scene shifts to the luscious mountains of Splash Hill. The hillside was filled with beautiful flowers, each of every kind, crystal clean flowing rivers that came down from a sparkling waterfall. The orange sky was illuminated by a setting sun. The place was very beautiful, and was currently visited by two people. _

_The same two people were walking along the path and next to one of the rivers. One was a dark blue hedgehog around the age a thirteen. He wore blue sneakers and a green necklace. The other was a human redhead girl around the same age as him. She was clad in a red leather jacket and skirt with a white shirt, white leggings, and red sneakers. _

"It was about a couple of days after Marisa and I first met," Larcen narrated. "Since neither of us had places that we could stay, we decided to go where ever we could. We enjoyed one another's company, and the fact that we weren't alone anymore. After about five days of walking, we reached an unfamiliar area…"

_"Hey, Larcen…" the girl began, "Where are we now? I've never seen this place before."_

_"I think I've heard about this area once before…" Kid Larcen said as he looked around. "I think this is called Splash Hill. It's north just off of South Island. It's known for its beaches and animal environments. This might be a good place to walk through, and maybe even spend the night, Marisa."_

_"Really? That sounds pretty neat," Kid Marisa said as she folded her hands together. "How do you know that?"_

_"I had a history book that told me all sorts of things, even about places that are as amazing as this," Kid Larcen smiled at her. Then the smile turned into a sad frown as he sighed. "My parents gave to me on my forth birthday."_

_Kid Marisa suddenly felt his pain as she realized she reopened a wound. "Oh… I'm sorry I asked…" she said timidly._

_"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking his head and smiling, "Anyway, let's go see what this island as to offer. Then we can keep moving. Don't worry Marisa, we'll find your mom."_

_"Thanks," she smiled back, "And we'll find out why your daddy ran away."_

_"Yeah. Come on, let's go!"_

_The two friends began to run of further into the field, raising dust and pollen as they went._

_After they went running for awhile, they stopped at a river, which was right in front of them. It was running smoothly, which was no problem if you knew how to swim. Kid Larcen and Kid Marisa knew how to swim, but nether of them were that good enough to swim across a river. _

_"There must be some way for us to get across," Kid Larcen muttered as he rubbed his quills. Then he turned to his friend, "Marisa, you know any water magic that can help us get across?"_

_Kid Marisa looked down, "My mommy didn't teach me yet…"_

_"I'm sorry…"_

_"S'okay…"_

_Shrugging of the lonely feeling, Kid Marisa looked around for something to use. Then she found some kind of tree log lying on the side. "Hey! We can use this to ride the river!" she said as she went over the log._

_"Ride the river?" Kid Larcen echoed. "Are you sure that's safe?"_

_"Don't be a scardy-hog," Kid Marisa teased. "C'mon, it could be fun."_

_"Well… I guess," Kid Larcen said, still unsure._

_"Well, don't just stand there, come and help me with this!"_

_Kid Larcen walked over next to Kid Marisa and the two kids began pushing the log into the river. Once what was left of the tree fell into the water, they quickly jumped on it. The pair began to ride the water waves as the log started to carry them through the river with reasonable speed. The waters felt frigid and cold, but it was a warm day anyway. The two preteens could help but cheer as they continued to ride the river._

_"This isn't so bad," Kid Larcen smiled._

_"See? What did I tell you?" Kid Marisa chirped from behind him. "This is fun, huh?"_

_"Yeah, I- hey, you hear something?"_

_"Hear what?" Kid Marisa asked him. She stayed silent to listen to a rapid sound of water. As the log they were sitting on continued to move, the sound began to get louder. Then the log turned a corner and the gasped. Right before them was a speeding brook filled with rocks._

_"Oh no!" Kid Marisa gasped._

_"I knew this was a bad idea!" Kid Larcen panicked. "Marisa, hold on! It's gonna get bumpy!"_

_Holding on was all they could do at the point. Once they reached the speeding water, they found themselves bumping and crashing into the rocks. It was very nerve wreaking for two kids. _

_After bumping and crashing for to long, Kid Marisa suddenly lost her grip and fell into the water. Kid Larcen looked over and gasp. "Marisa!"_

_Kid Marisa managed to get her head over the water, but she was still panicked, and her arms and legs kicking and clawing desperately to get to any refuge. The only she could do was scream out loud as the water carried her. Kid Larcen jump into water and went after her. "Marisa!" he called. "Get hold of a rock! I'm coming!" _

_Kid Marisa managed to here him, and as soon as she saw an incoming rock, she held on tight. Kid Larcen quickly grabbed on to her, and the pair pulled one another on the rock. Kid Marisa coughed the water from her throat while Kid Larcen rubbed her back. "Are you okay?" _

_Kid Marisa looked up. "Thank you, Larcen."_

_Kid Larcen smiled. Just then, a huge wave appeared right over them, and both noticed it too late. Faster than they could realize it, they were pulled into the waterfall, fell down and screamed at the top of their lungs._

**_SPLASH!_**

_Later…_

_Two pairs of feet climbed out from the lake and the feet that carried the bodies collapsed from exhaustion. The two preteens coughed and gagged for air as they sat there, shaking all over from the effort it took just to get oxygen in their systems. Still, it was a miracle that they survived. _

_"Larcen… the next time I say for use to ride a river… let's just forget it…" Kid Marisa coughed._

_"It's alright…" Kid Larcen said tiredly. He looked up to see the area they were in now. He gasped as he nudged Kid Marisa by the side. "Marisa… look…"_

_Kid Marisa looked up after, and then gasped. Springing up from the ground were the most beautiful flowers that could be found. They came in blue, red, and green and sparkled like the most highly sought._

_"Those are… 'Living Gems'…" Kid Marisa whispered. _

_"Like a field of sapphires, rubies and emeralds…" Kid Larcen added. He turned to his friend with a grin, "Maybe the river ride wasn't such a bad idea after all, huh?"_

_"Very funny," Kid Marisa smirked as she playfully pushed him. "We can rest here for the night, so how about it?"_

_"Sounds good."_

_By the time it was dark, Kid Larcen and Kid Marisa had already dried off, thanks to Marisa magic by the way, and set up a small fire. They had also found some fruit trees to pick off from for dinner. The pair sat down as they watched the fire lazily flicker before them, the Living Gems still sparkling around them. _

_"We have to find a way to get some money," Kid Marisa said as she chewed on some fruit, "With what we currently have, we can't get very far." _

_"Yeah," Kid Larcen nodded as he chewed on his fruit. "But what kind of odd jobs do you think we can get?"_

_"We'll think of something," Kid Marisa shrugged. They two stayed quite for a while as they ate. Then Kid Marisa decided to ask something. "Larcen? Hey, I told you what my mommy was like, but you never told me about your parents."_

_"I didn't?" Kid Larcen said. "Well, I still remember back when we were a happy family. My mom and dad really loved each other and they were happy with what they had," he made a sad sigh as he pointed at his necklace, "My mom gave me this necklace on my fourth birthday. It was passed down by many generations of my family. She said that it holds special powers that can help me whenever I get into trouble."_

_"Really?" Kid Marisa said as she looked at the necklace, "You mean its magic?"_

_"Something like that."_

_"What does do?"_

_"From what I can tell, it let's me move very fast."_

_"That sounds cool," Kid Marisa chuckled. Then she looked at Kid Marisa with a concerned look. "I don't mean to pry, but how did your mom die?"_

_Larcen looked down, "I'm not sure… I just know that she was sick one day."_

_"Oh… I see," Kid Marisa said quietly._

_"Wherever she is now, I hope she's happy again," Kid Larcen sighed. Then he looked back up with a smile. "Come on, it's time we got some sleep." _

_Kid Marisa yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, I am getting sleepy…" She gave Kid Larcen a tried, yet cute look, "Can I cuddle you?"_

_Kid Larcen blushed, but nodded, "Sure." _

_Kid Marisa cuddled up to her friend as they lied down together. Kid Marisa hugged Kid Larcen close to her and the hedgehog hugged her back._

_"Faaaw… night, Larcen."_

_"Good night, Marisa."_

_End of flashback…_

"…We could have died that day. But it was a miracle that we didn't. Still, it was quite and adventure."

"You two must have been through a lot," Eli said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we got really close over the years," he responded.

A sudden mischievous grin crossed her face, "So, do you like her?"

Larcen was cut off guard as a blush crossed his face, "What? Uh… I, well…"

"Aha! So you like her!" Eli declared. "It's written all over your face!"

"Shoot…" Larcen groaned.

"But hey," Eli wondered, "There's still something I'd like to know. How did you both meet?"

"That is a story for another time," Larcen said, sighing.

"Hey keep it down," Maria whispered. "I hear something."

"Hear what?" Larcen asked as the blush vanished.

"Listen…"

Everyone went silent at her request. And then they heard it.

"Gah ber ragert- stupid hedgehog- arg br- Project Gaia- ds gaw bu oy d- Ark- bar…"

"What is that?" Zed frowned.

"It's coming from the holding area. Come on!" Maria said as the silently dashed to where the noise came from. When they reached the holding area, each of them looked through the cell doors. When Maria looked through another one, she gasped.

"Over here!" she signaled. The three others went over and looked inside with her. And then they saw it.

Stuck in a straight jacket and sitting on a floor was Dr. Eggman, babbling some kind of nonsense. His strange red eyes where spinning around. He didn't seem to have his infamous intelligence anymore. "What happened to him?" Eli gasped.

"It must be due to his final battles with Sonic that he ended up like this," Larcen guessed. "He couldn't stand losing and his mind began to unravel. His final defeat was where he lost it all."

"So that's what Snively meant," Maria blinked.

"I say we take him," Eli said quickly.

"What? No way," Zed frowned. "We can't even open this door."

"That can be fixed," Maria smiled as her hand sparked with energy. She placed her hand on the lock and clinking noises were heard. The light turned from red to green, indicating that the door was unlocked.

"He's still heavy, we can't all carry him," Zed pointed out harshly. "I'm surprised he didn't lose weight."

"We got this wheelbarrow here," Larcen said as he dragged the said item with him. Zed growled in defeat, unable to protest any more.

"Alright Larcen, give me a hand," Maria asked. The echidna and hedgehog carefully lifted the babbling doctor on the wheelbarrow. Soon, they were off again.

Shortly after they left, a drone was passing by and saw that something was wrong with the door. Looking inside it found nothing within.

* * *

Snively spit his soda in front of the screen when he saw the drone's POV. "What the hell?" he gasped. Jumping out of his chair and carelessly throwing away what was left of his can, he ran to an 'Incase of Intruders' phone, broke the glass with a hammer, causing the alarm, and pulled out the phone, "All units engage! We have infiltrates! Move it or lose it chumps!"

* * *

"Great! I knew taking the doctor was a bad idea," Zed growled as he looked up. The sirens were loud and the lights were flashing.

"Now what are we going to do?" Eli stammered.

"So much for staying in the shadows," Larcen frowned.

"We still have a Chaos Emerald to find," Maria said. "Come on!"

The group of four continued through the walkway, semi-aware of the robots following them. In a short time, they found the blue Chaos Emerald in a force field.

"Now what?" Larcen frowned.

"I got it!" Maria snapped her fingers. In a quick flash, the Chaos Emerald vanished from the force field and appeared in her hand. They could hear the robots advancing on them quickly. The shadows began looming from the entryway.

_"Chaos Control!"_

As soon as the robots came crashing in, they saw nothing but a vanishing smoke puff. Snively pushed his way through and frowned at the results. Not only had he lost his uncle, but now the Chaos Emerald was gone as well.

"Dang, back to square one," he frowned. "Looks like I have to heighten the damn security."

* * *

When Maria and her team had return from New Robotropolis, they explained everything that they found; more specifically the babbling Dr. Eggman. Using her power of the mind, Violet looked into his thoughts to see what was messed up. After some minutes, she opened her eyes and looked at her friends.

"Well, I can say that he still maintains his IQ of 300," she began. Eggman suddenly shot up and began babbling some more nonsense, startling everyone. Violet quickly pushed him back down on the table, shutting him up. "But his mind is all fragmented. He has lost his ability to think rationally, let alone think at all."

"So what do we do with him?" Athena asked.

"I'll send him to G.U.N. Maybe they'll know what to do with him."

"Like what?" Breezy questioned.

"I don't know," the eldest half-Seedrian shrugged. "Maybe fix up his mind and use his intelligence to help with G.U.N. most likely. I know everything he did in the past was bad but…" she looked at the mental challenged scientist, "Considering the state he is in now, throwing him in the slammer would be quiet cruel."

"I guess… I'd have to agree with you on that," Kera nodded.

"I'll teleport him to Jewels and Radian as soon as I can and let them in on what is currently going on. Right now, we'd better get some sleep; today was one heck of a day."

Everyone nodded and got ready for bed. Maria warped Eggman to Jewels and phoned her about the trip to New Robotropolis. She assured her that Eggman will be cared for and fixed up. G.U.N. is even considering making him into one of their researchers if everything goes well.

As for Larcen, he stretched out on the sofa and got ready for sleep. Marisa sat next to him. She was in her pink nightwear that had a bunny on it.

"So, how was your adventure in New Robotropolis?" she asked eagerly.

"It almost seemed to pass me by, honestly," Larcen replied as he smiled tiredly at her.

"Yeah, I bet," she snickered. "Hey Larcen, can I rest with you?"

Larcen blushed a little, but nodded. "Sure."

Marisa smiled as she cuddled onto Larcen, rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. Larcen moved his arms around her and returned the hug as he stroked her hair.

"Night, Larcen."

"Good night, Marisa."


	11. Kung Fu Hustle

**Ch 11: Kung Fu Hustle  
**

"Man, what a mess," Jam growled as he flew through the bamboo forests of Chun-Nan. "When dad said that Aquatic Mines was a wet and wild ghost world, he meant it." He was right about that one. There were very few people who'd dare go and explore there. At least the Chinese country of Chun-nun wasn't as dangerous. Mostly.

Landing in front of a temple, he could feel his Chaos Sense going off again. He hadn't been able to find any luck since Jewels departed, but at least the fifth Emerald Shard was there. Whirling his arm around for a moment to loosen it up, he walked inside.

* * *

Inside the middle of the temple, there was a shrine with torches lined up on the walls. Water was right underneath them. There was also an ancient shield with some kind of Chinese symbol on it. In the middle of the shrine, there was a female monkey in meditation. Her hair was red and done up in two long ponytails with buns on top of her head. Her fur was brown and she wore a blue Chinese combat dress; the middle was opened slightly, showing her smooth belly. Her hands and forearms were warped up in white bandages and her fingers were shown. On her feet were blue Kung Fu shoes with ribbons that lased up to her ankles. Her tail was very strong as she was using it to support herself while meditating. She was also quite toned herself. Suddenly, her eyes shot opened, showing a pair of emerald greens.

"Something is wrong."

* * *

As Jam was walking through the temple, he couldn't help but admirer the sites of it. He was always in to relics and other things that came from the ancient past. He let his fingers run on the aging hieroglyphics as he took a closer look.

**Drunken Monkey-** Incorporates a lot of false steps to give the appearance it is defenseless and uses a lot of off balance strikes.

**Stone Monkey-** Leaves an area exposed on its body for an opponent to attack, so it can attack a more vital spot on the body.

**Lost Monkey-** Gives the appearance of being lost and confused to deceive the opponent into underestimating the fighter's abilities, and retaliates when it is least expected.

**Tall Monkey- **More suited for tall people. Tall monkey likes to climb body limbs to make attacks at pressure points.

**Crafty monkey-** Variation to Lost Monkey. By pretending to be scared for example it lulls the opponent into a false sense of security and waits for the opponent's guard to be down, then suddenly attacks when not expected.

**Wooden Monkey-** The attitude of this monkey is more serious, and its movements are noticeably less light than the other monkeys. Wood monkey likes to grapple and bring its opponent to the ground.

"All six styles of Monkey Kung Fu," Jam whispered. "So this is a temple were they trained people in those arts."

Continuing on, he followed his Chaos Senses to the heart of the temple. There he saw it, the next Emerald Shard trapped behind the shield.

"About time!" he exclaimed as he began going up their. But then he felt a powerful kick slam into his back, throwing him some feet forward. As he got up, he found himself looking up at the female monkey. He wasn't so sure if he saw anything more beautiful in his life.

"You don't belong here," she said in her soft yet firm voice. "You must leave."

"What?" Jam frowned as he got up. "I can't do that. I have something that I need in this place."

"I cannot allow that!" The monkey got on all fours and rushed at Jam, making him jump over her. She immediately stopped as he landed behind her and began doing a series of sweep kicks, forcing him to jump about in back flips. This continued until the monkey grabbed one of Jam's legs with her powerful tail and flipped him on his back. She jumped at him and reared her fist back. Jam quickly rolled out of the way as the fist slammed into the ground, making cracks appear on the floor and fragments flying out. Jam winced as he noticed how strong she really was. She lunged at him again but Jam was ready for her. They began engaging in a kickboxing match as their legs moved like mirrors.

Suddenly, the monkey grappled Jam by his arms and threw him to one side of the chamber. He rolled up on his legs, just in time to see the monkey coming for him with another kick. He managed to sidestep away. She swung another leg at him, but he caught it and threw her over his shoulder. She did a summersault and landed on a wall. They both took a moment to catch their breaths. Jam had to admit, she was tough. But his mastery in muay thai and taekwondo kept her at bay.

"What kind of monk are you anyway?" Jam panted.

"What concern is that to you?" the monkey asked as she hung upside down.

"I told you that there's something I need in this place," Jam continued sternly, "If anyone needs something important then the lest you could do is ask for what. That's what I'd do after all…"

The monkey didn't answer as she continued to observe him. She had to admit, he was quite easy on the eye, with his rippling muscles, fine body, firm chest…

Wait a minute…

Jam didn't seem to notice her faint blush on her face as his eyes went to where the shard was being held. The monkey soon saw this. Without warning, Jam spread his wings out and flew to shield. The monkey followed by crawling on the walls. Before he could even touch the shield, the monkey kicked him square in the face, sending him back to earth. As the monkey joined him, he got himself into a defensive position and backed up. The monkey began throwing punches and kicks as Jam managed to block them. It wasn't long before Jam got himself in an offensive and began throwing roundhouse kick after roundhouse kick. The monkey used the style of Drunken Fist to effectively elude the kicks.

After moments of dodging, the monkey grabbed his leg and sent three kicks on him before sending a palm at his chest. The sheer force of it sent him through a wall and out to the deep forest. As he slid on the ground, the monkey jumped after him and got into an animalistic fighting stance. A white aura appeared over her. Jam spread out his legs and sprung back. Ready for another round, he too entered a fighting stance. His legs became engulfed in fire.

The fight continued as the rushed at each other and sent punches and kicks at one another. The area around them sparked with Chi and flames as they fought. As the monkey made a swift kick for the head, Jam arched his back to avoid it. Then he spun around and sent a kick at her chest, making her fly backwards into the bamboo trees. She quickly used her tail grab a tree and swung around before fastening herself on it. Jam got prepared for whatever trick she had ready.

Just then, the monkey dashed through the trees with blinding speed that almost matched Breezy's. Jam's eyes widened as he scanned back and forth. Then the white blur swooped in and hit Jam several times before Jam was quickly thrown on to his back. The white blur came at him again, but now Jam saw. He moved one of his flaming legs up and kicked the blur to a pond nearby. The blur reverted back to the monkey as she skid on the pond and, surprisingly, came to a halt. Slowly, she stood up and smiled mysteriously at Jam, confusing the red bat.

She moved her arms around like water as the surface below her began to stir. Then she clapped them together.

_"Suiryuudan!"_

Instantly, the water shot up from under the monkey and formed into a huge serpent dragon with red glowing eyes. As the dragon lunged at Jam, the flames on his legs vanished as he flew into the trees. The dragon turned around and continued to chase him. After moments of going through the trees, the dragon appeared in front of the bat, surprising him. It slammed right through, causing him to go backwards before he managed to grab hold to a pole. Jam coughed the water out of his throat and shook some from him. He soon noticed the dragon coming for him again. Wasting no time, he jumped into the air and used a Screw Kick on the head. As he made contact, it exploded with water spraying around. The two combatants landed on opposite trees, ready for more. The monkey reached for something behind her back and pulled out a small cylinder. She pressed a button and it extended into a red bo staff. She spun it around her for a while before pointing it at Jam.

"Nice," He muttered to himself, but still retained his muay thai form.

The monkey jumped across the trees before attacking Jam with her staff. He managed to get away from the attacks, but the monkey was very light with her style of fighting and thus made her a very difficult opponent. As she jumped again, she brought her staff down on him, ready to crush him. He grabbed it, but was forced down. As he pushed her back up, he jumped after her and sent powerful kicks at her. She managed to defend herself by spinning her staff in front. As they landed on another tree, Jam sent more kicks that she deflected with her staff. As she did a cartwheel, she placed her feet on the tree. Jam lunged and used a roundhouse kick, but the monkey sprung out of the way. The bat's kick chopped the tree in half.

The monkey didn't seem to look where she was going as she landed on an edge and slipped. Jam heard her scream in surprise and was about to fall. Quickly, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Wh… what?" She wondered as she looked at him with a blush on her face. Jam also had a blush on his face as he looked in her eyes. Carefully, he pulled her up. After moments of silence, they turned beat red as pulled their hands away. "Why did you help me?"

"Because you were in trouble, why shouldn't I have?" he replied.

"I see," she nodded. "Well, what are you doing here really?"

"I needed to find one of these," he said as he brought out one of the Emerald Shards that he had.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as she dismissed her staff. "My apologies! Please let me assist you!"

After a short time, the pair went back to the temple and retrieved the shard from behind the shield. Jam smiled as he placed it in his subspace pocket. "Sorry that I got in your way."

"No, no," she smiled fondly, "I was my fault. I was training in this temple for a long time now. It was just by instinct that I attacked you."

"Well, it's alright. Trust me, I know how that's like… what's you're name?"

"Oh, forgive me. I am Xiangfei. But call me Meiling."

"My name is Jam. Jam the Bat."

"Jam…? Why are you searching for the shards?" Meiling asked as another blush appeared on her face.

"Well, they were originally one whole of the Master Emerald. As the guardian, it's my job to find them."

"Ah so I see," Meiling nodded.

Jam nodded and turned around. Turning his head to face her, he said, "I have to keep moving now. There is still many more Shards that need to look for. Maybe… I'll see you later?"

"Sure…" she nodded.

Waving behind his back, he ran out of the temple. Meiling turned and walked back, about to resume her meditation. But then she felt something stir inside of her. She couldn't comprehend what it was… but it felt nice.

'Is it something about that boy?' she thought. 'What could it be…?'

* * *

Jam walked out to the temple and looked into the sky. "That's five shards down. There's just only seven more left to find."

"Jam!"

He turned around to his name being called and saw Meiling coming up behind him. "Yes?"

"May I… accompany you?" she blushed. "I don't wish to be alone right now…"

Jam blushed also, "Sure… I guess some company could be nice."

Meiling smiled. With that, the duo jumped into the trees and disappeared together.


	12. Virtual Reality

**Ch 12: Virtual Reality  
**

The next morning begins in the briefing chamber of Mephiles' lair. Darcy had informed him and Rothion about the second Chaos Emerald that was located. Unfortunately for them, Breezy and her friends were now in position of it.

"Ah, so Dr. Eggman now has a nephew?" Mephiles questioned amusingly. "This era is most defiantly a strange one. I wonder if this Robotnik is as predictable as his uncle."

"After he was defeated by Sonic's daughter and her friends, he escaped to his base and stored the Emerald away. But Shadow's daughter retrieved it," Darcy explained. "Do you wish for us to steal, sir?"

"No, not yet," Mephiles said smoothly. "Let them savor their little victory for now. We will take it from them eventually. For now, I have another assignment for you."

"What mission do you have for us, sir?" Rothion asked.

"The job is…"

* * *

Meanwhile up in the air, the pirate ship Gesellschaft was flying to another destination. Inside, the core members of the Dynamite Syndicate were having a meeting of their own. Their briefing room was like any other briefing room, with the tables and chairs. There was even a large screen behind it, which was filled with static at the moment.

"It would appear that we have new competition," Skylark said as he sat on his commander chair. "Two Chaos Emeralds have already been taken."

"We're on a goddamned hair-trigger," Nack frowned. "We still have yet to get any money and these guys are just scooping them up like sand!"

"You don't have to remind me," Moana said. "These machines are really expensive. We have to pay for them somehow."

"Yo, I think I may have found a place where we can get some more machines," Bean spoke.

"Yes?" Skylark glared. "What is it?"

"It's a zone called…"

* * *

"Digital Circuit," Daisy announced as she looked through her handheld. "The place is a like a whole-other dimension. Lots of pixels and digital codes everywhere. It's also one of the sites of the Black Arms Invasion."

"Wow, that place sounds cool," Breezy smiled.

"Cool, but dangerous," Violet said. "The area is like the internet and it is full of viruses. Best you watch out, all right?"

"So you think there is a Chaos Emerald there?" Kera asked.

"Maybe. I just found some strange power traces there," Daisy said. "It may be best for you guys to have a look."

"Yeah, but how can we get there?" Gadget asked. "Do we even know where it is?"

"I'm so glad you asked little brother," Daisy smiled as she punched several notes into the handheld. A beam of light from it hit the heroes before they had time to react. In an instant, they vanish in a swarm of digital codes.

"Was that necessary?" Violet asked her, eyebrow arched.

"How do you think Uncle Shadow ended up there?" Daisy remarked.

"Point taken."

* * *

Breezy and her friends soon found themselves in the Digital Circuit. They were in complete awe of the place. Everything was like a flashing and blinking hologram as they walked on a cyber walkway. "So this is the Digital Circuit," Marisa spoke.

"Si, it's more magnificent then I thought," Samson added.

Kera was also admiring the sites of cyber world. But then she frowned as she saw some familiar drone-like robots approaching them. "We have company," she said as she drew out her sword.

"Aren't those the same robots we fought back in Rio Salaz?" Larcen blinked.

"That means the pirates are here too!" Marisa nodded.

"Pirates? We have to deal with the pirates now!" Athena gasped.

"Shoot, we never get it easy," Breezy frowned.

"Comes with the territory I guess," Gadget said.

"Well, let's show em who's boss," Larcen said. As soon as the robots reached Larcen, he kicked two of them away from him. With a high leap, he came down on another one and did a strong ax kick to crush it.

Kera deflected the shots from the gunner robots with her sword and sliced all the oncoming robots. A tank robot approached her and fired heavy rounds of fire power at her. Kera jumped and rolled from each attack as she ran up to it. She did several slashes that removed the weapons. The she stabbed the core and jumped away as it exploded.

A spinning blade machine that looked a lot like a top rushed at Breezy and Gadget, ready to cut them up. Lucky for them, they managed to jump over them and Breezy followed up with a kick, making it fly out of control and crash. Then a mantis like robot came down on them, making them jump on separate sides. Gadget came down on it with his three tails, causing some damage. Breezy used an up draft kick to toss it up into the air, jump up and axe kicked it down to destroy it. "Wahoo! This is fun!" Breezy cheered as she landed and did a short break-dance.

Omega was knocked back by the robot he was facing but regained his position by using his boosters and claws. He dash back at the sword wielding pirate robot and blocked two sword attacks with his armored arms before throwing some punches. Then one of his hands retracted and turned into a cannon as he forced it into the robot's chest and fired a point black range, causing utter destruction. More beetle robots came from behind him and fire blasts of plasma at him. Fortunately, Omega already detected them and jump from the assault. As he was in the air, he locked on and fire blasts of missiles, each one destroying the robots.

Samson was clearly enjoying himself as he jumped around shooting the robots as he was laughing. At least once a robot would get close enough to attack him at close range, but he would manage to avoid getting hit and kick the robot or shoot it at point black. "This is like a fiesta!" he laughed as he continued firing his guns.

"Hey, don't get too cocky, Samson," Marisa pointed out as she punched another robot away from her. "We still have a long way to go." Her hands began to burn with fire as she threw fireballs at the robots that approached her. As they began to burn, her hands glowed with electricity as she fired lighting shots at them, make them explode in huge blasts.

Maria had a much easier time with the robots. With her Chaos Powers and her fighting skills taught by her father, she was a difficulty opponent. She didn't like fighting, but she would fight if she must. She tossed on robot over her shoulder, throwing it in a pack of five robots and destroying them all. She kicked and punched more robots that rushed at her and threw another around and into an invisible wall. It exploded upon impact. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Turning around, she found a huge, hulking robot. It looked like a purple gorilla with heavy armor on the knees and shoulders. It reared its fist back before throwing it down to turn her into a pulp. Maria back flipped from it as it came down in a crushing **THUD.** Using the fist as a springboard, she jumped to shoulders and slowly pulled the head of the robot off, shutting it down. Letting it droop, she jumped up, did a short flip, and came down with a striking Chaos Megaton, destroying it in a large blast.

Athena was using her psychokinesis to kick one robot repeatedly into oncoming squads like a kickball. When she was done, she snapped her fingers and let the robot burn, making it explode. "I'm sure there still more of those robots around here."

"Well, we'd better not waste anytime," Kera nodded as she removed her sword from a sparking robot. "We have to beat the Dynamite Syndicate to the other side."

"Dynamite Syndicate?" Gadget queried.

"The name of the pirates," Larcen answered. "Kera and I fought their leader during the attack on Rio Salaz."

"So then what are we doing standing around here for?" Breezy said ecstatically as she raced off, "Let's say hello."

"Wait for us!" Athena shouted as she raced after her.

"Typical of that girl running off like that," Kera muttered as they all followed her.

The team of heroes ran through the cyber highway and dispatched any robot that came their way. After going through the highway and jumping on the platforms, Maria saw a red portal.

"Look, that's the speed circuit!" she pointed. "If we get on it, we'll be taken to the next area."

"Come on, let's get on it!" Athena said.

Everyone followed the direction, jumped on the speed circuit and immediately they were blasted away into a weightless hyper-speed.

"Yahoo! What a roller coaster!" Breezy cheered.

"Whoaaaah! Too fast! Too fast!" Marisa cried.

"Hey watch out!" Larcen shouted as he referred to the rising red walls.

"They're firewalls!" Gadget said. "They're made to keep us out!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Samson retorted.

"The circuits have alternate tracks that we can go through!" Gadget explained. "We can switch roads to avoid the on coming firewalls!"

"You got it!" Athena acknowledged.

Everyone followed the youngest hero's advice and switched between tracks to avoid hitting the firewalls. After a bit of a while, they got to the next area. More robots began to advance on them.

"Man! Do your parents always have to go through this?" Marisa commented as she jumped away from an attack of a huge robot and used blasts of wind to blow it to pieces.

"That's kind of a dumb question to ask," Kera stated as she jump from another attack and sent blasts of water from her sword at them.

"Yeah, like Gadget said," Athena said as she threw another robot down, "It comes with the territory."

Breezy kicked another one and saw some strange searchlights nearby. "Hey all! If we go to those searchlights, something cool will happen!"

"Like what?" Larcen wondered.

"Just watch!" she said as she leapt at one of the searchlights. The light seemed to have detected her coming an immediately brought the beam to her position, drawing her in quickly. The searchlight was destroyed upon her landing.

"How did she do that?" Kera questioned as she arched an eyebrow.

"It must be that in this part of the world, our bodies are nearly electronic," Maria said matter-of-factly, "The laws of physics are bent here. We can do almost anything we want here."

"You mean like walk on walls and things like that, senorita?" Samson asked.

"Logically speaking."

"Hey! Hurry it up over there!" Breezy's voice called over.

"Well if she can do it," Kera began as she jumped toward another searchlight. The same thing happened as she was reeled in and smashed the light on impact.

The rest of the team followed the other hedgehogs and continued going through the cyberworld. They went through loops, speed circuit and more searchlights. The flashing lasers and lights that were there to either help or hinder them were a factor too. They also continued to bash anymore robots that got in their way. And then bash some more robots. Robots, robots, robots everywhere…

* * *

In the core of the Digital Circuit, there was a much larger robot that looked like an octopus with four legs missing. The remaining four legs had wheels underneath. It was red and gray in color and had plasma blasters and bomb launchers. Inside the cockpit was the techno expert of the pirate crew, Moana.

"Nack, any sign of the Emerald yet?" Moana asked over his line.

"No luck," Nack's voice responded, "There is no sign of a Chaos Emerald here."

"What about you Bean; did you find any useful parts?"

"Oh yeah! This place has it all!" Bean's voice said with excitement, "There may not be an Emerald here, but at least we ain't leavin' empty handed!"

"Huh? That's odd…" Skylark's voice spoke.

"What is?" Moana asked.

"I just looked through my scanner… we've just lost ¾ of our unit in just up to an hour."

"So then someone other than us is here?" Nack asked.

"Humph! Who cares? I'll teach them not to mess with our mission!" Moana snorted. She flipped some switches on the control board and prepared to launch. "Here we go! Feldynaught: engage!" The mech rocketed straight up into the outer reaches of the cyberworld.

* * *

The group of heroes only had enough time to see the Feldynaught coming down on them like a falling billboard. They managed to get out of the way before it flattened them like pancakes. As they stared up at the machine, the hatch on top of it popped open and Moana climbed out. "Hey you! Thanks to you everything's a mess now, huh!"

"Huh?" Breezy blinked. "Who's she?"

"Wait, look at that mark on the robot's leg," Samson pointed to the first leg of the Feldynaught, which showed a very familiar insignia. "That senorita is one of the pirates!"

"She's a pirate?" Gadget gasped.

Moana smirked at the young alien/kitsune hybrid's outburst, "You're a lot dumber than you look. Of course, that should have been self-evident from the fact you're picking a fight with the Dynamite Syndicate. Of course, if you agree to become my servants, I suppose I could forgive you…" she said in one of her calm and sweet voices as she folded her arms. "So how about it? That way I won't have to go through all the stress."

"Join up with pirates?" Breezy frowned as she moved her arm down in a swift manner. "Sorry; we'll have to drop that invitation."

Moana growled, "Alright, fine! See what I care! I gave you a chance and you turned it down! Don't come back crying to me later!" She blew a raspberry at them before jumping back into the mech. There was a tense pause for a moment before the Feldynaught crouched into battle formation. "You're history!" Moana's voice shouted as the Feldynaught began shooting blasts of plasma at them.

"Yow!" Athena shrieked as she jumped over the assault. "What's her beef?"

"She just wants to kick our ass for interfering, that's all!" Larcen said as he ducked down.

"Anger management much?" Marisa said as she fired a lighting attack at the Feldynaught.

"Hey! I heard that!" Moana shouted as she spun around and fired shots all around her. This made it almost hard to avoid. Kera deflected most shots with her sword as Larcen blocked it with his barrier. Kagome used her mirror shield to reflect the shots.

"Have some of this!" Breezy yelled as she curled into a Homing Spin and slammed into a leg of the Feldynaught. As the leg gave away, she recoiled into the air and came back down, striking another leg.

"Hey, cut it out!" Moana snapped. "This mech is already very expensive!"

"Yaah!" Maria cried as she jumped in the air and fired blasts of blue light from her hands. The blasts made sparkling tracks on the ground as they approached the Feldynaught. The colliding blasts made more damage on the machine.

"Knock it off!" The Feldynaught began to spin around and fire bombs all over the surrounding area. Everyone was forced to fall back to avoid getting caught in the explosion. But she wasn't finished. Then she fired a whole stream of bombs at them.

"Whoa!" Gadget yelled as he hovered over the attack.

"It's not over yet!" Moana said. "Shockwave!" She made the Feldynaught jump up and come crashing down, making a huge shockwave. Athena and Larcen where unable to escape on time and got thrown back from the shockwave.

"Larcen!" Marisa gasped in shack. She glared up at the machine with almost glowing red eyes. "Alright, now you've done it!" Her hands glowed with much powerful electricity and she shot out a ball of lighting at them mech. This caused quite some heavy damage.

"Arrg! The systems are at yellow!" Moana grimaced as she read the readouts on the monitors. "I have to finish this!"

Marisa dashed to Larcen's side and held him closely. "Larcen, hey. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Larcen smiled weakly, "It was just a rush."

"Good, you scared me there," she smiled as she hugged him.

Athena groaned as she got up. "Yeah, thanks for looking out for me too!" she frowned.

"Uh, sorry Athena!" Marisa smiled nervously.

"Hey, if you're done maybe we can figure out a way to beat this thing!" Kera shouted as she slid away from a bomb.

"Well, it isn't anything like Eggman Nega's or Snively's machines, that is for certain," Maria said. "Still, perhaps we can use the environment to our advantage."

"Like how?" Samson asked as he fired some bullets at the machine.

"Oh I get it!" Gadget realized. "Maria said that our bodies are nearly electronic. That must mean that our forms are without mass. We can walk on walls here!"

"Hey, that's sounds like fun!" Breezy smiled as she began to jump on the walls randomly. Moana saw this and made the Feldynaught fire shots at her. As always, the daughter of the Legendary Azure Wind was far too fast.

"She's distracted! Now's our chance!" Larcen signaled. The rest of the group began bouncing on the walls and dished out random attacks on the Feldynaught.

"Darn it! I can't take much more of this!" Moana growled as she saw the system readouts inch to red.

_"Aguis Illusion!"_ Kera yelled as she turned aquatic invisible and lunged at two of the legs of the Feldynaught. She managed to get in some slashes with water oozing out of the gashes.

Maria jumped from the ceiling in an acrobatic flip and aimed her pink glowing hands. _"Chaos Bloom!"_ she yelled as she fired her pink energy blot at the mech.

"Hey, I'm not staying out of this one!" Marisa shouted as she fired a ball of fire at the third leg of the Feldynaught. When the attack hit it, it nearly melted.

Moana was getting frustrated as she struggled to keep her grip on the controls. She had no idea she would get this kind of trouble. In fact, she never had this trouble at all. None of her machines have taken this kind of damage up until now.

A rapid beeping caught her attention. Looking down, she found that her controls were malfunctioning. Her pupils shrank in shock.

"Oh no."

The heroes saw the Feldynaught beginning to jerk around and about. Suddenly, it fired plasma shots and bombs everywhere and all around. Everyone was force to jump all over the battlefield to avoid getting hit.

"What is she up too now?" Athena shrieked as she flew out of the attacks' range with her psychokinesis.

"It must be her weapon!" Kera shouted as she jumped over the bombs' explosion. "All that damage must have made it malfunction!"

"Athena, contain it!" Gadget told her as he flew through the barrage of plasma.

"I'll try!" Athena said as she used her psychokinesis to trap the Feldynaught. The white cat struggled as the explosions erupted inside. She was getting a huge headache from all of this. After long a long enough time, she released her hold on the machine and slowly floated to the ground, exhausted. As the cloud of smoke dispatched, the saw the Feldynaught all battered and heavy in damage. The legs were bent back and the sparking circuitry could be seen. Slowly, Feldynaught tried to move again. Breezy would have none of that.

"I'll play with you some other time!" she said as she came down of the machine in a Homing Spin. As she collided, it exploded in a huge flashing blast. Moana was thrown away from the broken mech, screaming as she vanished into the… well, the sky. Breezy popped out of the ruins of the mech and jumped out of it.

"Hehe! That was kind of fun," she smiled cheerfully.

"Define the word 'fun,'" Kera frowned with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, that was way too much," Larcen added.

"Athena, you aren't injured are you?" Maria asked as she went to her.

"I'm just… woozy," Athena said as she held her head. "I might need to lie down…"

Maria placed her hands under Athena's arms and lifted her up. She drew back rapidly on seeing the prominent gash in the middle of left shoulder.

"Oh my God! Your shoulder!"

"What? That bad?" Athena winced as she rubbed it. "I felt it, but I didn't think it was major."

"Well, it is! Hold on, I'll heal you," Maria closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she cupped her hands together and collected green Chaos Energy. Once she had enough, she gentle rubbed the green glow against Athena's injury. Within a few seconds, the injury vanished without any trace.

"What was that?" Marisa gaped with eyes wide.

"It's a healing technique I know," Maria smiled as she faced her. "I call it Chaos Heal. I can manipulate the Chaos Energy I have to heal injuries. It is quite useful if I do say so myself."

"It is, isn't it?" Kera commented. "Looks like there's nothing left for us here. We should leave."

"Si, let's get going," Samson nodded as he and the others began to walk away. Suddenly, a landing clank behind them caught their attention. Turning around, they found Rothion the Owl with his back turned holding some kind of piece of gold.

"Rothion?" Breezy blinked.

The owl turned around and, oddly enough, looked confused. "Mademoiselle?"

"What are you doing here?" Kera glared.

"Nothing that concerns you," he shrugged. With a wave of his cape, he vanished in a black mist.

"Hey, you notice that thing he was holding in his hand?" Marisa asked.

"That must be one of the pieces of the Sanpglyph that Jewels and the Phantom told us about," Gadget explained. "He's all ready got one of them."

"Well, I think it's about time that we find out what this Sanpglyph really is…" Larcen said.


	13. Pirates Ahoy!

**Ch 13: Pirates Ahoy!  
**

The Gesellschaft…

"If only we'd known there were people like them here in the first place!" growled Skylark as he rocked in his chair. "We won't fail this time! We'll ambush them-concentrate all our firepower on those twerps!" a sinister smirk formed on his face. "We won't cut those punks any slack! Thanks to them, our plans have been completely ruined! We are going to teach em' a lesson!"

"Just you wait, Skylark!" Moana smiled with an approved fist pump. She didn't have many wounds from the battle so she recovered quickly. "I have a robot that I've wanted to use for a while now. It's just about indestructible too! That'll teach em!"

"This time… we'll get rid of them for sure!" Beam grinned. "And then the Chaos Emeralds will be easy picking. Hahahahahahehe!"

Nack just yawned, showing his sharp fangs, as he leaned on the table and picked his ear. Today was just one of those days…

* * *

Meanwhile back in Station Square, everyone gathered around to finally know about the secrets of the Sanpglyph, after much procrastination.

"Okay," Violet said as she imputed some codes into the computer, "You all ready?"

"Fire it up, Violet," Daisy nodded. Violet activated the computer and holographic hieroglyphics appeared around them.

"Ancient writing… too bad Jam and Jewels aren't here," Violet frowned.

"My hieroglyphic reading may be a little rusty, but I'll give it a try," Maria said as she stepped closer. Squinting her eyes a little, she read them out loud.

"One millennia ago, a battle was fought between two different tribes of echidnas. One the Eclipse clan, the other the Nocturnus clan. The war raged and speared like wildfire. After years of defeat at the hands of the Eclipse clan, the blacksmith offered the head chef of the Nocturnus tribe to an indestructible mechanical army. He called them: the Army of Darkness. When the Army of Darkness was completed, they devastated the Eclipse clan without mercy. At first, the head chef was pleased. But then he realized his error when the Army of Darkness began slaughtering his own men as well. Quickly, he separated a magical amulet that controlled the Army of Darkness, the Sanpglyph, into three pieces and hid them in different corners of the land so that the Army of Darkness could never be used again."

Everyone was stunned at what they heard. Maria had some time to collect herself before speaking again.

"The Eclipse clan was my mother's clan and the Nocturnus clan was Aunt Shade's clan. "They did say that both sides have fought for centuries. Why is that they had to fight so much?" she said as she shook her head sadly, "None of the clans would have had to die if the didn't fight."

"So it's safe to assume that the Army of Darkness is very powerful, yet dangerous and unable to control easily," Kera nodded. "That's why the head chef of the Nocturnus tribe split the Sanpglyph in three pieces."

Breezy thought for a moment, then asked, "Hey, Violet. Can you bring up an image of this San-whatever?"

"Sanpglyph, Breezy," Violet corrected as she punched in more commands. The hieroglyphics vanished as a new image appeared. It looked like a gold flying disk with three images: one was a minator, another was dragon, and the last one was a chimera.

"That's what it looks like," Marisa gasped. "So Mephiles needs all three pieces to reawaken the Army of Darkness?"

"I doubt it," Maria said, "The Sanpglyph is what controls the Army of Darkness, yes, but that alone isn't enough to reactivate them. He would need…" she slowly trailed off. Her eyes suddenly widen.

"He would need the Chaos Emeralds!" Athena exclaimed. "That must be why he's after the Chaos Emeralds! He wants to reawaken the Army of Darkness!"

"We don't really have enough proof that it's all he wants to do," Violet said as she turned the computer off. "He wants to get to the Army of Darkness, that is for certain. But since our parents were all used by Mephiles in the past and were unaware of it until it was too late, I can bet my ludicrously large collection of Yu-Gi-Oh cards that he wants something more then just that."

"Something more?" Eli asked fearfully.

"Whatever it may be, we need to find out what it is and fast," Violet continued. "But as of right now, we still have Chaos Emeralds to collect."

"Did you out find where the next one could be?" Gadget asked.

"Somewhere that's pretty far from here," Daisy said, "The next Chaos Emerald is located in the city of Aquatic Capital."

"Aquatic Capital…?" Breezy stammered, her eyes widen with fear. "You mean… that island that's surrounded by water?"

"Huh? Uh oh," Maria blinked.

"What's with her?" Zed snorted ignorantly.

"Well, how should I put this…" Daisy began as she tapped her chin and looked at Breezy, she was now quivering and making strange whimpering noises, "You see, Breezy not only inherited her mother's personality and her fathers powers, but her father's fear of water too. So whenever she hears anything related to deep water…"

* * *

"NO! NO! NO! I DON"T WANNA GO!" Breezy screamed as she held on to the lamppost while Maria tried to drag her on to the Ocean Tornado. It was slightly larger and more armored than before but it still bore the same colors. It was no longer a sailboat either. It was an all around battleship.

Everyone decide to go with the sea approach to reach Aquatic Capital. Even Eli and Zed was tagging along. Well mostly Eli wanted to see the Aquatic Capital. She just dragged Zed with her again. With Marine's permission, they got the good ol' Ocean Tornado to get the there. Breezy was far too stubborn (and afraid) to get on the ship.

"Breezy, let's go!" Maria grunted as she continued to pry her off. "We have to get going!"

"No! No! NO!"

Maria continued to growl as she slowly managed to remove the screaming hedgehog from the lamppost. She was much stronger than Breezy in terms of strength. "Sorry, Breezy," Maria sighed as she dragged her on to the boat.

"AUUUGG! NOOOO!"

All in the while, a shadowy figure was watching from on time of the boat.

"What a dweb."

* * *

For the most of the afternoon, everyone was doing their own thing to keep occupied. Violet was piloting the boat while Daisy was looking after the systems; Eli, Maria, Athena and Marisa were talking and Zed was being emo again. Omega was recharging. That left Breezy, Kera, Samson and Gadget with themselves.

As Kera and Samson saw how nice the sea was, they also noticed how Breezy was shifting uncomfortably. "Poor girl, she probably has had a bad experience with the ocean before," Kera frowned with sympathy.

"Si, just being out here only makes her feel more uncomfortable," Samson nodded.

Gadget slowly went up to her and silently offered her some comfort by nudging her arm. Breezy turned and smiled sweetly at him as she wrapped her arm around him and brought him in close while toying with his ears. She was beginning to feel a little better now. Kera and Samson couldn't help but smile a bit.

"I'm picking something up on the sonar, everyone!" Daisy suddenly said from the intercom, "It's way too big to be a fish ... and I think it's metal. We might need to be ready!"

"What's going on now?" Kera said as they all headed out to the bridge of the ship. Everyone else joined them after hearing the announcement.

Daisy continued to look through the sonar as she scanned the screen. Then she turned to the window and waited for a moment. Then she saw it. Two armored robots, one green and another blue, surfaced up to the waters. "I thought so!"

"Whose robots are those this time?" Larcen frowned in annoyance. He was starting to get annoyed from all the robot havoc.

"Don't know, but they don't look too friendly," Athena said as she saw them approach.

"They don't look all that tough," Zed scoffed.

The blue UCAV submarine fired two torpedoes at the Ocean Tornado. As the underwater warheads speed up to the Ocean Tornado, warning sirens blared. And then the boat rocked as the torpedoes struck, almost making everyone fall over.

"You were saying?" Breezy frowned as she regained her footing.

"I don't think the ship can take too many hits!" Gadget said.

"Gadget, you take the controls. I'll man the weapons," Violet commanded.

"OK!" Gadget obeyed as he swapped positions with her.

"Breezy, you help me."

"Got it!"

"What about us?" Marisa asked. She wanted in on the action too.

Both of them went to the cannon controls and aimed their weapons at the UCAV submarines. Firing the guns, they managed to sink them down. More of them took place and began firing missiles and torpedoes. They were not about to get hit again. First, they fired at the weapons to blow them up before they hit. Then they fired the guns at the machines to sink them too.

"Violet, ahead!" Daisy signaled.

Flashing her fangs slightly, she whirled around and saw another group of the UCAV submarines directly in front of the boat. One of them was close enough that she could see the words "Aqu Geleido" emblazoned on one side. She fired at them with the power cannon as quickly as she could, but a green one of them managed to fire a missile. Before it struck, Violet managed to destroy it with the machine gun.

Breezy also managed to shoot some of the now identified Aqu Geleido down into Davey Jones' Locker. She wasn't used to using machine guns. But she managed to get the hang of it. She shot some more down with the power cannon as soon as she saw them. Lucky for her, none fired a missile or a torpedo.

"Look's like we got them all," Breezy sighed in relief.

"Don't relax yet," said Daisy as she continued to scan through the sonar. "I'm getting multiple signals on my radar ... there are a lot of little weird signals coming from around the Ocean Tornado ..."

Violet looked out into the ocean with caution. She saw several of the UCAV submarines moving underwater. However, none of them were machine such movements to alert the sonar that Violet was watching.

"They're above us!" Gadget suddenly shouted.

Breezy shifted the gun to her left and saw some of the drone ships diving down on them. They were too maneuverable to easily hit with the power cannon, but the other machine guns weren't particularly strong. Not to mention that those drones had their machine guns and the Ocean Tornado wasn't all that fast enough to dodge them. Even if it was, the collection of humans, animals and alien hybrids inside would be feeling the heat the most. However, the drones were moving too fast to aim and would have to slow down to fire. That gave a chance to attack.

"Breezy, use the machine gun on those ships. When they slow down, shoot them with the power cannon!" Violet told her.

"Right!"

As the drones got closer, the machine guns fired. They didn't do all that much damage, but slowly and surely, some of them went down. As predicted by Violet, the drones moved in slowly to fire. Luckily, the power cannons blasted them out of the sky. The last one crashed into several UCAV submarines that were surfacing.

"How many of those robots do they have?" Samson sighed in exasperation.

"From the looks of it… A LOT," Kera answered.

"And there are a lot more coming for us," Daisy pressed on.

"Nice," Larcen groaned.

"Here that, Violet?" Breezy told her as she heard them, "We ain't out of the woods."

"Yeah, I got you."

They two girls began firing the guns at the reappearing Aqu Geleido. As they were sinking them down, they noticed something odd. None of the machines were fighting back.

"Hey… it's like they don't even see us," Breezy blinked as she shot another down.

"Yeah… and the surviving number seems to be retreating. This seems like an omen…" Violet observed.

Suddenly, more UCAV submarines surfaced on each side of the ship.

"WHOA!" Breezy exclaimed as she frantically fired in all directions, trying to hit them all. The boat rocked several times as the enemy weaponry impacted. Violet tried a more persisted approached and aimed carefully. Soon, they were in clear.

"It looks like we got all of their little ships," Breezy smiled a bit.

"Alright, way-a-go!" Marisa cheered.

"Hold on! I can see a large blimp on the sonar!" Violet gasped. "Head's up, everybody! Something big's coming this way!"

And as soon as she said this, something large appeared from beneath the waters and in front of the Ocean Tornado. It was about twenty feet tall. Red eyes were on the top of a disk-shaped head. Two enormous, clawed arms extended from either side. Its purple metal exterior seemed too tough for even the power cannon to break through.

"What is that?" Eli gasped at the monstrosity before her.

"The mother ship maybe?" Maria guessed.

"Someone has broken into our transmission circuits!" Gadget said. "It's coming from that huge ship!"

"Patch them through!" Violet ordered.

Gadget pressed in some commands and made a holographic screen appear. Static fizzled on it for a few moments. And then, Skylark's sneering face appeared on it.

"Hey there, so you managed to get past our arsenal," Skylark smirked.

"You!" Kera pointed, "The Dynamite's leader!"

"What!" Athena gasped. "Those were the Dynamite Syndicate's machines! Won't you guys give us a break?"

"You've been giving us a lot of problems in these last few days," Skylark growled sourly. "We knew that you'd be coming here looking for the Emerald. There's nowhere for you to run now! There's no way you can beat the Bruno!" With a wave of his hand, the connection was cut.

"Great, now what?" Larcen frowned.

"I say we hang on!" Gadget answered as he pressed some keys, "Cause he's not letting us go without a fight!"

And he was right.

The Bruno fired several missiles at the Ocean Tornado. These missiles were much faster than the ones the UCAV submarines used. The cannons of the boat managed to shoot some down but the remaining missiles hit the ship.

"We're outgunned!" Violet gasped as the ship shook. "We can't fight them head to head like this!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Breezy said as she fired her guns, "None of the weapons have any affect!"

"We need a better strategy!" Gadget said as he looked back to the others.

"Hey, there's a river nearby!" Kera said as she looked out to the window. "Let's try losing them up there."

"Hmm," said Gadget as he turned the boat. "I see where you're going with this. If they don't fit, we can dock someplace safe and then we can try to get them on foot."

"I was thinking of trying to escape due to the circumstances of the battle, but the second option's good."

"Well, come on! Let's go!" Athena exclaimed.

The Ocean Tornado started to pick up speed as it headed up the river. Breezy and Violet continued to fire shots at the Bruno to slow it down. Large cliffs rose on both sides of the water. By the time they reached the river, the Bruno was out of sight.

"Good, at least we can relax a bit…" Larcen nodded.

"I'm detecting a small pond ahead of us," Daisy said as she looked through the monitor. "Seems like going on foot is out of the question…"

Daisy saw the same blimp appearing on the radar again. Looking at the monitor that showed what was behind the boat, she frowned as she saw the top of the Bruno approaching them. "So much for them not being able to follow!" she said as the Bruno started to fire another round of missiles.

Samson winced as the Ocean Tornado shook again, "If we don't watch it, we're going to end up with a big hole on our backside!"

Gadget complied as he began to move the Ocean Tornado from side to side in another effort to lose them. Unfortunately, the pirates were undaunted. "Rats! I can't shake them off!"

"This is getting really hard now," Marisa grimaced.

"Wait! I see it! Get into that pond now!" Daisy told him.

"Got it!" Gadget nodded as he moved the ship into the middle of the lake. The Bruno surfaced fully, and suddenly there was a crunch of rock against metal. It sounded like the rock won and the Bruno stopped maneuvering. In fact, it only seemed capable of slowly rotating.

"Okay, this is perfect!" Violet stated. "Sounds like they broke their rudder or something. Alright little brother, we need you to move around the Bruno so that Breeze and I can get clear shots."

"Roger!"

"Aim for the arms and bomb launchers that are located on either side of the Bruno," Daisy noted as she scanned the water mech, "The armor should be thinner there! It'll be nothing but a giant frog if it can't shoot!

"Right, gotcha!" Breezy nodded as she prepared to fire.

* * *

Onboard of the Bruno, Moana stared as she saw the Ocean Tornado circling them as it fired the weapons at them. "What do they think they're doing running around like that? Why don't they just give up?" She moved some levers, and the Bruno's left arm swung at them in an attempt to do direct damage. The boat was too out of reach to do total damage but it managed to do some.

"Yeah, why aren't they running?" exclaimed Bean. "Do they think they can beat us?"

Moana blinked as she saw the monitors that showed the status of Bruno's exoskeleton. Already the arms were glowing in the red. "Uh… boss?" she said nervously, "It looks like the joints of the arms aren't as good as the rest of the limbs."

There was a sudden dull crash outside of the Bruno. The left arm had fallen off after it took too many hits. It fell into the water with a huge splash.

"Son of a gun!" Skylark swore. "Alright now, it's time we used the hyper plasma cannon!"

"What a minute! Let's think this through for a moment!" Nack began, busily firing the other weaponry, "That cannon might be the strongest weapon we have right now, but it's also tied directly into the power core! If they destroy that, the Bruno will go with it!"

"I hate to say this, but we're at the end of our rope here," Skylark said regrettably as another blast was heard, meaning that they were now one bomb launcher short. "I underestimated them again…"

The Bruno's other arm fell into the water the ship shot it with that powerful cannon. "Shoot! Not again!" Bean swore.

"Calm down!" Moana told him. "We still have one more weapon left, right?"

**BANG**

"Not anymore."

"Alright, now I've had it!" Skylark frowned as he clenched his fist, "Let's. Get. DANGEROUS!"

* * *

"Look's like we've destroyed all of their weapons," Breezy said as she lowered her gun.

"The fight isn't over yet," Violet said as she saw something rise out from the back of the Bruno. "It looks like they have one last weapon."

"That's a very powerful plasma cannon!" Daisy exclaimed as she scanned the weapon, "We have to be extra careful not to get hit by that!"

This is too late for that information as the cannon powered up rather quickly and fired a huge ball of energy at the Ocean Tornado. And it hit HARD!

"Waahh!" Gadget screamed as he regained his footing. "We have to hurry up and destroy that cannon! If we destroy that then the whole of Bruno will go down with it!"

"You got it!" Breezy said as aimed her gun as it charged up again. When she managed to strike the cannon, the charging process shorted out for some reason.

"Hey, looks like we can disrupt the charging process of cannon by just shooting at it," Violet observed. "Right, let's shoot it till it's down!"

"You're speaking my mind, desu!" Breezy grinned. With that, the duo started shooting at the cannon. In a few hits, the cannon blew up. The chain reaction to the power core was obvious.

"We have to get out of here or we'll get caught in the explosion!" Gadget said as he moved the Ocean Tornado out of the pond. A set of carriers moved to the top of the malfunctioning Bruno and allowed the crew to board it. When that was done, the carriers flew away. Just in time too: the Bruno exploded in a fantastic display of pyrotechnics.

* * *

Skylark sat dejectedly as the carrier flew back to the Gesellschaft. He just couldn't understand it. How could the have destroyed another one of their powerful machines? Ever since the attack on Rio Salaz, they have been receiving nothing but interference. Why was all of this happening? All the need was the money! More importantly… who WERE they?

"Forgive me, Moana," he sighed. "After you went to all the trouble to make us such a magnificent robot… well, what can I say? I mean ..."

"Hey, cheer up Skylark," Moana smiled. "Don't worry about it. We'll go back to the ship, and come up with a new plan!"

"Another minor set back is all," Nack said as he leaned casually in his chair. "We just need to think ten steps ahead now."

"Yeah, but I did wanna see em blow up," Bean skulked.

Skylark nodded with a grin, "Yes. I shouldn't be moping. We still have plenty of tries. We'll have them soon enough."

"Now if you excuse me, I have to use the bathroom," Moana said as she got up and went to the restroom.

As she was walking, she was thinking about the event that was going on the past several days. Why? Why were they losing? Were her machines defected? Did she underestimate them too much? Naw, couldn't be… but what?

Suddenly, she bumped into someone. Looking up, she found herself looking at someone in a Phantom of the Opera costume. Hey, how'd the heck did he get in here?

"Who are you?"


	14. Fire and Water

**Ch 14: Fire and Water  
**

"Well, hello there young miss. Would you like a kiss?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

"Just joshing you."

"What? You were kidding?"

"And now the mystery surrounding me is greater," the Blue Phantom cackled as Moana freaked out. "Well then, good day." And with a wave of his cape, he vanished in a haze of blue petals.

"So it's okay if it's to be mysterious?" Moana said dumbfounded.

"What's going on, Moana?" Skylark called over. "We heard you screaming."

"It's nothing. Really," she reassured. "I just stepped on something."

* * *

After the watery skirmish with the Dynamite Syndicate, our heroes finally managed to make it to the island city of Aquatic Capital. It was very pretty to say the least. The buildings resembled the ones from Future City, only the main colors were blue and white. There were more canals throughout the city than there were in Soleanna. There where more fountains there too.

"Wow, this place is amassing," Kera whispered in awe.

"Not even the rivers of Soleanna are like this," Eli added.

"Yeah, this is lovely," Maria smiled to herself as she looked around. Then she looked at Breezy in front of her, with her back turned. "Breezy? Are you alright?"

Breezy turned around and gave one of her carefree grins, "I'm fine. And you were right about this place. I guess I freaked out for nothing."

"The Ocean Tornado took quiet a lot of damage from the ambush," Violet called over from the deck. "Some of us will have to stay behind and repair it."

"Sure, you do that," Breezy nodded. "In the meantime, the rest of us will look for the Chaos Emerald."

Breezy and her usual team began to walk through the Aquatic Capital. Breezy made a small whistle sound as she admired the city's beauty. She may be afraid of water, but it was deep water that she was afraid of. The rivers didn't look all that deep so they didn't count. Gadget also thought that the city was cool looking. Maria admired the beautiful sight that the city offered them. Still, they had an Emerald to find.

As they were looking around, they saw something in particular on one of the walls in the city: it was an old, stain-glass-ish painting. It looked like some guy in blue armor in some kind of coma like state and a beautiful girl (although she was faceless, as was the blue knight) in a white dress leaning down on his face to kiss him. In the background, strange looking white wings gleamed in rainbow light.

"There is something about this picture… but I don't know what," Kera said as she looked at it.

"Yeah… I've never seen this before," Marisa added in her two cents.

"I wonder what it is…" Breezy said with curiosity.

Omega's left eye flickered.

"Lovely picture isn't it?" a harmonic voice said behind them. The group turned around and found a woman looking at the graffiti art with glee. She was a fox… literally. She was in a silky pink and red kimono with a green sash. She also had on black stockings and red sandals. Her fur and long hair that were adorned with cherry blossom flowers was bright orange and her eyes were in a mischievous blue. The most distinguishing factor of her was that she had a total of **nine tails** swinging behind her back. Marisa silently noted that this woman was in fact a Kyuubi no Kitsune, a very dangerous fox spirit. Gadget couldn't help but get a sense of familiarity from the woman. "It was a part of this island for a long time now. It has its own story too and it's one of my favorites. It's about a brave knight who was killed by an evil warlock. But then a lovely princess revived him with a gentle kiss."

"Wow, that's sounds so romantic!" Marisa gushed, seeing that this fox wasn't very threatening. "Doesn't that sound so sweet, Larcen? About the princess kissing the knight to revive him?"

"Y-yeah, it does," Larcen nodded, trying to hide his blush.

"It is romantic… but I think this painting is trying to tell us something…" the fox spirit said as she analyzed the painting some more. "And what do those wings in the background symbolize? Could it be an omen?"

"Come to think of it, it does look like some kind of warning…" Maria nodded as she looked back at the painting. "I wonder what it means…?"

"Well, enough of that…" Athena interrupted, "You know if a Chaos Emerald is here?"

"Hm? Why do you want to know about the Chaos Emerald here?" the fox spirit asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Whoa, easy there," Athena continued. "Don't think ill of us. There are some people here who want to take it, and we're trying to stop them."

"Who?"

That question of hers was answered as fire suddenly appeared throughout the city and manifested into the monsters. No sooner than that happened, the people started screaming and running for cover.

"Oh I see, you mean that!" the fox spirit gaped at the sight.

"You best be taking cover," Samson said as he took out one of his guns. "We'll help evacuated the people."

* * *

About several minutes after the evacuation, a trio of Ibils Monsters was seen patrolling the streets… until blasts of water came down on them and splashed them out of life. The team of heroes dropped down and looked at the area that was over the horizon; it was a deep blue and majestic castle known as the Water Palace.

"I spoke with the mayor of Aquatic Capital," Kera began. "He told me that the Chaos Emerald of this city is hidden in that palace."

"Something tells me that this will be quite easy," Marisa said. "Those Ibils Monsters can't even touch the water. We have the advantage here."

"I defiantly agree with you on that," Kera said as her Dragon Sword glowed in a watery glow, "Still, we have to be ready no matter what."

"Target sighted. Homing beckon locked. Mission: capture and protect the Chaos Emerald. Destroy Ibils' Minions," Omega stated.

"You heard the bot! Let's go!" Athena nodded as they all raced into the city.

The team began running through the city and met little resistance. Of course, the resistance was pretty strong but they were nothing when the got drenched with water. Kera certainly proved that much, slightly much to most of their chagrin.

"Hey, quit hogging the show!" Athena frowned as they continued to race through the city.

"Hey, I'm the only one with an element strong enough to defeat Ibils' Minions," she pointed out as she sliced another minion, "If you want in then step up the beat! It's not like there's a strong monster out here anyway."

After slashing two Ibils' Minions in front of her, more monsters appeared in front of them. But these monsters looked a bit different… like they had water and fire conjoined to them. They looked like blobs with arms and legs. Each of them had a single green eye.

"What…?" Kera blinked as her sword stopped glowing.

"Whoa… seems they aren't so weak to water anymore…" Marisa blinked.

"Hm, well at least we get to have some fun, right?" Breezy smiled.

"Humph, if you say so," Larcen said as he drew his dagger out. Without another word, he rushed up to one of the new… let's call them Aqua Fiends for now, and prepared for his attack. One Aqua Fiend reared its fist back and stretched it out far to hit him. Quickly, Larcen jump over it as it hit the ground and dove his foot at the head. As he bounced off and landed behind him, it was stunned. That gave Larcen the chance to drive his dagger in and run it down. The Aqua Fiend let out a howl of agony before it slumped to the ground and turned into a puddle with ash splattered on it.

"Fire or water, they still go down like the rest!" Athena said as her flames appeared on her heels and boosted her high up. Three Aqua Fiends were right below her and began shooting bolts of water and fire. She swerved left and right to avoid the shots. As she got closer to her first target, she righted herself and began spinning as fire engulfed her. She came down on one of the Aqua Fiends' water half and caused it to evaporate. She landed and arched herself up as steam powered out of the staggering Aqua Fiend. Suddenly, the water half reappeared on it.

"Oh great, they can regenerate themselves…" Athena sighed in irritation. Suddenly, she felt a warning of a sensation in her spine. Trusting her instincts, she turned around and saw another Aqua Fiend coming down and about to crush her. She flipped back as it crashed down and returned the favor by throwing it away with her psychokinesis. Then she spun around and started sending small balls of psychokinesis at the other two Aqua Fiends. They eventually could not handle the pressure and succumbed.

Omega and Samson had a slightly easier time with the Aqua Fiends. Their guns could penetrate right through them. It took awhile to kill them but the bullets did slow them down. They also had to knock away the other Aqua Fiends that came close enough to attack, but it was no trouble at all.

Kera and Marisa were fighting against a colossal Aqua Fiend. This one was almost fifteen feet tall and had long stretchy arms. Unlike the others, it appeared to mix with both fire and water. After avoiding a huge fist that crashed into the ground, Kera ran up the watery/magma arms and started to do some damage on the shoulder. The Aqua Fiend roared in pain and tried to shake her off. As she flipped off, Marisa charged up from behind with her hands glowing in light energy. She lunged and slammed her hands into the back, making a pretty explosion of light, water and sparks.

A winged Aqua Fiend dashed at Maria, Breezy and Gadget a super fast speeds. As it flew past them, they did a double take.

"Wow! That thing was fast!" Maria said as she looked back to were it supposedly went.

"Where did it go?" Breezy demanded.

"Huh?" Gadget looked up and saw the winged Aqua Fiend coming down on them in a swan dive. "Look out!" he pointed as it began firing blasts of water. The trio quickly began to run for cover as the water blast hit the concert. As Gadget dove for cover, he saw something gleaming inside a small hole. Curious, he reached in and took it.

"Alright now," Breezy yelled as she stretched her legs to prepare for a sprint. "Let's see who's faster!" And then an after image of her was shown as she seemed to vanish. Few seconds later, a purple streak rammed through the Aqua Fiend and slammed it into the ground. But when it did, the Aqua Fiend separated into three bizarre ghouls.

"Don't worry! I'll get them!" Maria said as she fired her Chaos Sniper ability. The three blue beams curved and twisted around before striking the ghouls in a brilliant flash.

"Wow! What were those things?" Breezy said as she dusted herself off. "They were like ghouls and Aqua Fiends or something."

"It would appear the Ibils Monsters aren't so dumb after all," Kera said. "Now they can adapt to water as well."

"Well even if they have gotten a bit smarter, we still need to reach the Water Palace," Marisa said.

"Yeah, we can't waste anymore time," Athena nodded.

"Gadget, we'd better go," Breezy told him.

"R-Right," he nodded as he hid something in his tails.

The heroes began to pick up the pace through the Aquatic Capital and began to run across the canals at high speeds. After struggling to keep up with Breezy, Gadget, Maria and Athena, speed came almost naturally to them, though they still weren't as fast. As said before, the canals weren't all that deep, but they had to keep running or else they'll sink.

"Hang on, here comes more!" Maria pointed as more Aqua Fiends and Ibils' Minions appeared in their way.

"On it!" Athena nodded as she fired two Psycho Balls at two of the Aqua Fiends. The attack practically blew them away.

"Annihilation!" Omega roared as he fired his missiles on most of the other Aqua Fiends and Ibils' Minions. The sheer blast of it was so predictable. Breezy took out the last Ibils' Minions with her Homing Spin.

"Okay, any idea of where to go next?" Larcen questioned.

Breezy skid across the water, making a huge wave in front of her, as she saw a tunnel way. "Hey look! Let's go through there!"

"What? You sure?" Marisa blinked.

"It's a drainpipe from the Water Palace. We might be able to use that to sneak in," Kera stated.

Omega looked into his map system, "The drainpipe will lead to the inner quarters of the Water Palace. It is likely that there are no cameras there."

"Well, its our only option!" Athena said as they went inside.

As they went through, they had to squeeze in very tight through the tube. It was dark, damp and uncomfortable. Still, they manage to get to the other side… by making a big hole for them to walk through.

"Was that really necessary?" Kera asked Omega as they walked out of the bath house.

"Affirmative," was his only response.

"Right…" she just sweatdroped.

"Come on, I can sense the signature of the Chaos Emerald here," Breezy gestured to her right. "This way!"

The team of heroes ran through the palace with Breezy, Maria and Athena in the lead. The Water Palace was rather big and majestic and lots of beautiful water pipes flowing everywhere. After a bit of running, the reach the holding area with the icy Chaos Emerald in place.

"There! We found it!" Maria pointed.

"Good, now let's take it and leave," Kera nodded.

"I don't think so," another voice behind them said.

The group tensed as they turned around found Darcy and Rothion looking right back and them. No doubt they were here for the Chaos Emerald as well.

"You again," Larcen frowned.

"Us again," Rothion grinned. "I believe we have a crown jewel that needs to be delivered," he said as he pointed to the Chaos Emerald.

"Forget it! You are not leaving with the Chaos Emerald!" Marisa growled as she collected magic in her hands.

"I don't think you have much of a choice," Darcy said as she folded her arms. "While you have fought against the demons and robots, you will never be able to withstand the likes of us. Isn't that right little Maria?"

"Hush up, you," the black echidna hissed.

"Very well then," Rothion smirked as he brought out a battle axe. It was dark purple with a red crest on the handle. "If you all insist in fighting with us, perhaps we can humor you… not that any of you will live long anyway!"

"If you want some, then bring it!" Kera challenged as she drew her sword out.

"Now remember, don't look at Darcy's eyes if they turn red," Maria whispered to her friends. Marisa was about to ask why, but Maria hushed her, "Its best if you do not know."

"Alright, boys and girls," Darcy grinned darkly as she collected dark energy in her hands, "Let's play!" She fired dark energy blasts out of her hands, but Kera sliced them up with her sword.

"Your chance for victory is nigh, heroes!" With an insane laughter, Rothion leapt into the air and came back down with his axe aimed at the floor. As he landed with it, he made a huge shockwave that went all through the floor and pushed the heroes back.

Athena groaned as she got up, but stood her ground. "Remember, protect the Chaos Emerald," she reminded everyone. They nodded.

"Forget that! You're all pushovers!" Darcy snapped as she flew up and came down in a drill attack. She rammed in to Breezy and slammed her into a wall with her hand on her throat. Breezy just glared for a moment before kicking her legs up and slamming both of them into Darcy's chest. As the bat slid across the ground, the hedgehog zip in fast and pinned her with her hand on her throat. It was a role reversal now.

"Alright you! Where's our parents!"

Before the hedgehog knew it, Darcy had her legs warped around Breezy and tossed her away. "I don't need to tell you," she said after getting back on her feet.

"Then I'll have to slice the answer out of you!" Kera shouted as she ran passed the recovering Breezy and right at Darcy. She lashed out and forced Darcy to defend herself. Due to Kera's skills, Darcy was having difficulty to avoid each blow that was dished out. One sword swipe cut of some strands of her hair. She saw this and immediately got pissed off.

"You wrench! You ruined my hair!" she hissed as she sent a snap kick to knock Kera's Dragon Sword out of her hand. It flew into a wall that was some feet from her. Kera was surprised for a moment, but that moment was all Darcy needed to send another kick to send her spiraling back. Kera staggered back up just in time to see Darcy firing dark energy bursts at her. She jump back from the first attack and continued to jump and duck from each of the blasts. She cartwheeled her way to her sword, took it out and got ready for her attack.

_"Heeeerrrr-YAA!"_

With an overhead swing of her sword, a blade of what appeared to be fire and lighting mixed together came flying out and crashed into Darcy. She slammed into a wall, making some cracks appear. As Darcy recovered, she glared at Kera who still kept her stance.

"Hmm… impressive," Darcy remarked as she dusted herself. "But even a sword master like you can't stop this!" Swiftly, she shot out her finger lasers at the Sword Demon. Kera jumped onto the wall and then off it to avoid the attack. The wall she leapt from suffered a huge hole.

"Hey! Forgot about me?" Athena yelled as she fired blasts of flames and psychic energy. Darcy shielded herself with her dark shield, making the shots bounce away from her. She retaliated by sending blasts of more dark energy at her. The psychic cat ran and flipped away from all the blasts as she approached the bat. When she got into striking range, she did a sweep kick that made Darcy fly up. Athena jumped after her and supported herself with her psychokinesis. The two began engaging in mid air combat by throwing fists and kicks at one another. After about half a minute, Darcy blocked a leg that was aimed for her head. That served for an opening. She rammed her knee into Athena's stomach, making her slouch in pain as she made a barfing sound. Darcy grinned at her pain, but when she tried to remove it, she saw that while she took the hit, Athena had grabbed hold of the leg. Now it was Athena's turn to grin. Swiftly, she levitated around her, grabbed her arm and threw her down. Darcy landed gracefully and glanced up to Athena.

Athena glanced back down for some seconds, and the groaned as she held her abdomen in pain. "I am SO gonna feel that tomorrow…"

Darcy soon heard the sound of missiles firing and glanced at where it came from. She only had a moment before she glided backwards. Missiles exploded where she last stood. As she landed, she looked Omega, who had his guns aimed at her. "Target: Darcy the Bat. Threat level: Critical. Objective: Prevent aggressor from capturing Chaos Emerald," he calculated.

"This is going to be more difficult than I assumed," she frowned.

Meanwhile, Rothion was facing the rest of the heroes. Marisa fired her fast moving flame attacks at Rothion, who was just grinning. He held up his axe as the weapon absorbed the attack like a ball through water.

"What the?" Marisa gasped.

"You fool! My battle axe can absorb magic! Your attack failed and now you shall pay dearly for it!" Rothion laughed as he as he raised his axe into the air fired the same fire attack at Marisa. She gaped as the attack came and hit her on the chest. She fell to her side as smoke smoldered from her shirt.

"Marisa!" Larcen cried.

"Ugh… I'll be fine…" Marisa grunted as she got up.

Samson was next at bat as he fired his twin pistols at Rothion. Rothion just laughed as he swung his axe wildly. As he stopped, bullets fell down at his feet.

"Well that's no good…" he uttered.

"Dahahahaha! Foolish pigeon!" he laughed again, "No ordinary weapon can stop me! You might just give up now and surrender the Chaos Emerald now and perhaps we may let you live!"

"Over here!" Maria shouted as she fired her Chaos Sniper move on him. Rothion prepared to absorb the beams but at the very last moment they curved and then struck him from behind, causing him to stagger forward in shock.

"What?" Rothion roared in shock and pain.

"Your axe is powerless against my Chaos Powers," Maria taunted as she pressed on. She continued to fire her Chaos Sniper at the owl who tried to counter the beams, but they kept curving and striking him from blind spots. Maria kept the barrage up, wanting to be sure that the Rothion would not be able to dodge or cut through more attacks like the kind he had in mind.

"Enough!" Rothion roared as he jumped back and away from the attack. Maria still didn't allow him to escape as she dashed up to him. Rothion narrowed his eyes as he raised his axe and prepared to strike her down. Luckily, Maria blocked it with her wrist guards. They were quite strong and even Rothion's axe couldn't penetrate them. After a bit of a struggle, Maria pushed him away and threw three punches to get Rothion farther back.

Suddenly, Larcen came down on him with a falling kick. Rothion saw him and jump at of they way. Larcen made a low growl as he continued to advance on Rothion. The hedgehog and the owl began engaging in a kickboxing match, throwing kick after kick after kick. Larcen managed to grab hold of his leg but Rothion knocked him back by throwing his fist at his face.

"Hey! I still have a bone to pick with you!" Marisa yelled as she rushed at Rothion. She recovered from the blow that she took to the chest and knew that her many of her spells wouldn't work so she went for the close range approach. She dragged her shining fist along the ground and slammed it into Rothion's chest, making him fly back. She continued her assault by doing a pack of sweep kicks, forcing him to jump around. Rothion decided that he had enough of it so he raised his axe swung it downward, making an energy blade swing at her. Marisa managed to avoid the attack but by the time she got second wind, Rothion was already at the pillar, behind the Chaos Emerald.

"I dare say, you all put up quiet a fight," he said as he took the Emerald, "But now it is time for us to leave."

"Not so fast!" Gadget shouted as he zipped up to Rothion and pounced on him. The kitsune/Thorndrigan hybrid began wrestling with the owl for the Emerald.

"Gah! Let go you half-extraterrestrial mutt!" Rothion snarled as the wrestling match turned into a miniature tug of war.

"No! You let go!" Gadget snapped. The two continued to pull on each other before Gadget gained the nerve to kick Rothion back. The owl snarled as he charged, this time with his axe in front.

"Annoying brat!" he yelled as he jumped for the blow. Gadget yelped as he curled up into a ball. What he didn't seem to notice was that a shield of green electromagnetic energy formed around him. Rothion's eyes widened as he saw this too late. The electromagnetic bubble zapped Rothion backwards, but in turn blasted Gadget back from the recoil, making the Emerald slip from his hands. Everyone stopped fighting and watched in awe as the gem tumbled in the air.

"Rothion, you mindless bird brain!" Darcy growled as she flew up to get the Emerald.

"No way!" Kera shouted as she turned and ran up the wall. She jumped off into the air and rammed Darcy from the Emerald's reach.

"I got it!" Breezy jumped into the air and grabbed the Emerald. As she landed, she found herself facing Rothion.

"You will do well to give me the Emerald, girl," he glared.

Breezy, on the other hand, just smiled. "I don't think so!" she said as she gripped the Chaos Emerald tightly. Rothion's eyebrow rose as he noticed it glow brighter than before. Suddenly, he felt a powerful blow hit his chest and he was sent flying backwards into a wall. He made a huge imprint of himself upon impact.

"Didn't see that coming, did ya?" Breezy smirked as she lowered her foot, which steamed of green energy. "Nothing can withstand my Roundhouse Hassle!"

"The Emerald!" Darcy snarled as she flew at Breezy. Again, the said item shined.

_"Tornado Jump!"_

A blistery wind appeared over Breezy's feet. Just as Darcy approached her, she leaped into the air with a tornado right below her. Darcy came to an instant halt as she blinked and looked side to side and the small tornado continued to ripple. As she looked up, she saw Breezy directly over her with a blue ball forming in her hand.

_"Tornado Hold!" _She threw the ball down and at Darcy. As it hit, a sudden wind barrier appeared around her and trapped her inside. Breezy landed gracefully behind her and turned around as she stood up.

"What's this?" she frowned as she formed an energy ball in her hands. She fired it, thinking that the winds would separate. What she got was the ball bouncing back and hitting her. She staggered back in shock. Behind her, Breezy was snickering. She turned around and looked at her angrily.

"You little brat! Let me out!" she yelled as she banged on the windy cell.

"Your words. Not mine," Breezy commented as she snapped her fingers. The Tornado Hold began to twist and turn before spiting Darcy out. She was sent spinning for awhile but soon regained herself and flew at Breezy. Breezy quickly threw the Emerald to Maria just as she was grabbed.

As Maria caught the Emerald, Rothion was already advancing on her. Luckily, she saw this and was prepared for it.

"Your time is up!" she said as her dreadlocks and the Emerald glowed. With the Chaos Emerald in hand, she wasn't going to mess up this time, _"Chaos Control!" _

In a brilliant blue flash, Maria dash all around Rothion, whose creepy eyes darted back and forth at the shining streak. Then he got struck multiple times all over his body before being thrown on his back. As he got up, he narrowed his eyes at the speeding streak, using his senses to track the movement. Once he had a fix of his target, he slammed his axe to the ground, making a shockwave ripple through.

Maria was moving so fast that she was unable to avoid the shockwave. In reality, she wasn't anticipating it due to the fact that she was in the Chaos Control Zone. The shockwave hit her and sent her flying back, making her loose the Emerald and cancel her Chaos Control out.

It flew into the air for a short moment, its glow glittering across the room. Suddenly, a hand grabbed it. Slowly bringing it to her view, Darcy grinned at it in satisfaction.

"Thanks for the present. We'll treasure it always," Darcy laughed as she Rothion began to glow via Chaos Control.

"Wait! Come back!" Athena shouted. But by then, a puff of smoke was all that was left.

"Shoot! We almost had it!" Marisa frowned. "It's now two Chaos Emeralds to our one, and that's not good!"

"Well, we still have four Emeralds to look for," Larcen reassured her. "We still have plenty of time."

"And the Sanpglyph. Don't forget that we have to look for two more pieces of it too," Kera added.

Maria shook her head to get the dizziness out as she stood up. "Let's see of the boat is ready for departure."

* * *

Actually, the Ocean Tornado wasn't ready yet. Not yet, but almost. As the finishing repairs were being made, Breezy was looking out to the ocean one on of the buildings, admiring its beauty that was enhanced by the sunset. Gadget was walking up to her rather nervously, fumbling with something in his hands. Breezy soon saw him and smiled her usually carefree yet cute smiles.

"What's up, Gadget?" she greeted. "Care to join me?"

"S-sure," he nodded quickly. He walked up next to Breezy and sat next to her. Breezy turned to him and saw how nervous he was. Though they were best friends, Gadget was always unsure of himself when ever he was so close to her. But she wasn't surprised, and she knew why. Her eyes saw something glittering in his hands. Curious, she asked, "What's that in your hands, buddy?"

"Oh! Um… I found this when we were going through the city," he said as he presented it to her. It was a blue necklace with a purple crystal in the middle.

"Oh Gadget! It's so pretty!" Breezy squealed as he emerald eyes lit up.

"You can have it," he smiled bashfully.

"Really? Wow, that's so cool!" she beamed as she took it and placed it around her neck. She admirer it cutely, which made Gadget smile brighter. Then she looked at her friend with one of her mischievous looks. This made Gadget edgy again. It didn't help the fact that she was gently caressing his face with her thumb.

"Uh, B-Breezy?…"

Breezy continued to smile as she stood up, walked around and behind Gadget, sat back down, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "You're so sweet Gadget! I'm so glad we're friends!" she giggled as she cuddled his fur, inhaled his flowery smell and left a small peck on his neck.

Gadget's face was very red as he felt her kiss his neck. He knew that she was always so forward, but it didn't stop him from being embarrassed. "I'm glad too, Breezy," Gadget smiled as he wrapped his arms around hers.

Breezy took another whiff of his head before she placed her finger under his chin and slowly tucked his head to face him. "You're always so cute and thoughtful in your own way, Gadget. You always help me with my troubles when I'm down."

"And you always help me with my bully problems too," Gadget nodded shyly. "You always have my back."

"Hey, you know me," she said, nuzzling his face, "I'll help you out with anything."

"I know," he nodded.

"That's good," she smiled lovingly, resting her head against his.

"My, my, my. What do we have here?" a cool voice said. With the moment ruined, the pair looked behind them and found Kera with a smiling face.

"Hey! I'll have you know that Gadget is three years younger than me!" Breezy retorted. Gadget's face was already bright red upon the accusation.

"I know. Just playing with you," she smirked. "The Ocean Tornado is ready. Let's go."

"Alright. Let's get moving," Breezy said as she stood up and pulled Gadget with her. With one last moment of silence, the trio left for the Ocean Tornado to head back to Station Square.

None of them was aware that the same fox from before was watching them from another one of the buildings. She smiled to herself as she cupped her hands together to form purple lighting, and then the lighting grew around her and she was enveloped in a flash of electromagnetic energy. Once the flash cleared, she was gone.


	15. Flying Brimstone

**Ch 15: Flying Brimstone  
**

After a frustrating trip to the Aquatic Capital, Breezy and friends headed back to Station Square to rest for the next day. They knew that if they were to get a chance in beating Mephiles and his cohorts, they need to step up their game. But what could you expect from some neophytes? Still, Mephiles has become a bigger threat than he was twenty years ago. Needless to say, they needed someway of outsmarting him.

"Don't say 'needless to say!'"

"What was that all about just now, Breezy? You were just shouting at the sky just now."

"Ehe. It was nothing, Athena. Nothing at all."

As they walked up to the front door, Daisy noticed something strange. "Hey… the front door is opened."

"What?" Kera gasped. Everyone busted through the door and a huge rush. When they got a clear view, they gapped.

Before them was a hearty meal of mashed potatoes, bread sticks, apple pie, macaroni and cheese and turkey. Sitting before the huge feast was…

"The Blue Phantom?" Breezy gasped.

"What? You little…!" Zed began, but was quickly silenced when another blue rose caught his coat and pined him to the door.

In a dramatic stride, the Phantom stood up, waved his cape in the non-existing wind and reintroduced himself. "From the land of water and flames, tea in the morning sun, comes the goodwill ambassador of love and destiny."

**The Goodwill Ambassador of Love and Destiny!**

"I am the Blue Phantom."

"So you decided to show your face again, eh Voorhees?" Larcen demanded.

"Hold on, how did you even get in here?" Kera questioned.

"More importantly, did you make all of that yourself?" Eli asked, pointing to the food.

"Alright you," Violet started with a frown, "I have some questions I want to ask…"

Suddenly, the Phantom rose up from his seat and swiftly moved to an opened window. "I'm curious about something."

"Curious about what?" Breezy asked.

"Did you know that although they are known to be herbivores, hippopotamuses are in reality carnivores?"

"They are?" Breezy, Athena and Maria's turned into wide, white dots.

Taking this to his advantage, the Phantom wrapped his cape and shouted, "Farewell!" as he leapt out of the window.

Kera quickly ran to the window and looked for any signs of the Phantom. Much to her vexation, there were none. "He's gone again! Damn it, who was that man?"

"Well, he left all of this for us," Breezy shrugged, "So let's eat! I'm starving!"

"Wait," Kera continued as she walked toward the feast with narrowed eyes. "This food may be poisoned."

"Oh come on!" Breezy growled as she stomped her foot, "You can't be THAT paranoid."

"Breezy, you'll understand that sometimes being paranoid is a good thing," Kera responded. "Now how are we going to tell if this is intoxicated?"

"Leave that to me," Athena said smugly, "My nose always knows!" She walked up to the feast and began sniffing around, her nose twitched as she did. She sniffed all the food and dishes on the table one by one. She loved the way the food smelled and the best part was that there was no trace of poison. Once she was done, she smiled and gave a nod.

"Wahoo! Let's eat, desu!" Breezy chimed as she dashed to the table.

After a few minutes passed, the group of heroes in training stuffed themselves with the dinner that the Phantom had so strangely presented for them. After a while, Athena decided to ask a question.

"Hey, Violet?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled as she looked up with her mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Did you by any chance find out anything about the Blue Phantom in the Gaia Library?" she asked as she picked up a piece of turkey with her fork.

"Gaia Library?" Kera whispered to herself as she also picked up some turkey. She would have to find time to ask about that later.

Violet swallowed before answering, "Actually, I was unable to find anything about him. It was as if he just appeared out of thin air!"

"But aren't all vigilantes that way? I mean, he has to have some kind of secret identity, right?" Marisa noted thoughtfully as she twirled her mac and cheese.

"I don't doubt that, but the problem is that he just appeared. Not to mention that I can't use the Gaia Library to find someone's identity. It doesn't work like that," Violet continued before opening her mouth, slightly showing her fangs, and chomping on some bread.

"I have a question," Breezy said after she wolfed her apple pie. "Why does the Phantom Dude always uses a rose?"

"Well…" Daisy thought after she gulped down some of her water. "In the language of flowers, the red rose is a sign of love and passion. There's also amaranth red for long standing desire and cardinal red for sublime desire. The orange rose can mean desire too. There's the purple rose that represent grace, gentility and elegance. The pink rose shows gratitude and appreciation and yellow roses are used to convey friendship. Then there's the black rose that represents death, hatred and rebirth."

"You're going off subject again, Daisy," Gadget sweatdroped in embarrassment. "She said blue roses."

"Oonga! Sorry, my bad!" Daisy giggled as she blushed. "The blue rose represents mystery and achieving the impossible."

"Ah, the blue rose is also traditionally associated with royal blood," Eli pointed out wisely.

"Really, senorita?" Samson asked as he turned to her attention.

"That's right," Zed nodded, still rather emoish as he twirled his fork. "As a matter a fact, the blue rose is the flower symbol for the royal family of Soleanna."

"That's interesting," Larcen nodded. "Too bad it doesn't give us anything new on clues about the Phantom. He doesn't seem to be an enemy, but he appears to be hiding something else from us. Also, he seems to know Breezy and the others as well, though they never met him before."

"Unless they met someone before all of this happened," Samson stated.

"No… I don't think we know that many older humans," Maria stated as she thought for a moment. "There is the former G.U.N. Commander that my father used to work for, but he is far too old to be doing the things that the Phantom is capable off. Not to mention that he is retired now. I don't think the current Commander, Topaz, would do such a thing either."

"So in conclusion, we still don't know who the Phantom is and what he wants," Kera sighed in disenchantment. "Terrific."

"Why do you want to unmask the Phantom so much anyway, Kera?" Athena asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

"…I just don't trust him," Kera replied ominously after a moments thought. "Even if he appears to be an ally, I don't trust him. That is all."

Breezy frowned a bit after hearing the swordswoman's response. During the short time she spent with her during the duration of the adventure, she found that Kera was a pretty difficult hedgehog. She was slightly more social than Jam, but all she would usually do was train with her sword and that was that. Why was that?

"Well, I'm bushed," Samson yawned as he stretched his arms. "I'm going to turn in."

"Yeah, me too," Violet nodded as she yawned as well, "Let's call it a night."

And within another hour, all were in their beds and fast asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the sun was rising outside of the window and shined on Breezy and Gadget, who were still asleep. Breezy slowly stirred as she opened her eyes and smiled down at Gadget as she stroked his sleeping face.

"Ugh… just five more minutes mommy," he mumbled in his sleep.

"Oh Gadget," she whispered in a sing-sing voice, "Time to wakey-wakey." She moved her finger to his neck and teased him, making him wake up.

"…Morning already?" Gadget said, too groggy to blush at her closeness.

"Yep. Come on, let's go," Breezy smiled as she sat up.

"Alright," he nodded as he sat up with her; she was still straddling his lap.

"What's not sanitary?" Marisa's sleepy yet loud voice came from upstairs. "And is it dirty enough to be interesting? Must be, if it's happening in the living room!"

"Huh?" Breezy and Gadget both blushed and backed away from each other.

* * *

"So Violet," Maria asked after everyone was finished with their morning rituals, "Did you find where we can get the next Chaos Emerald?"

"Actually…" Violet began, "I did find something, but I don't think it's Chaos Emerald related. Something strange is happening in the Hot Crater. It's almost like there is a gravitational anomaly in that area."

"Gravitational anomaly?" Kera blinked. "That doesn't sound like anything the Chaos Emeralds could do."

"Unless there being used to power a machine, which is unlikely in a place like the Hot Crater." Daisy pointed out quickly.

"So maybe it isn't a Chaos Emerald… but another piece of the Sanpglyph?" Kera wondered.

"Maybe," Violet shrugged. "Think you can have a look see?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Breezy smirked.

* * *

The scene shifts to the volcanic area of Hot Crater, which Sonic and Cream visited during their race to save their friends and to stop Eggman from building his XX Satellite. A total nine figures stood on a brimstone hill top as they viewed the burning road below them.

"Never thought I'd see a volcano up this close before," Breezy said, kicking a loose rock out of her way.

"I think I'm having second thoughts for this," Marisa said as she fanned herself. "It's too damn hot."

"It is a volcano," Larcen reminded her. "Volcano's are always hot."

"It doesn't mean I have to like it," Marisa deadpanned with an equally hot glare.

"The more we stay here and complain, the hotter it's only going to get," Kera interrupted. "We have to get moving."

"Warning! Warning! Gravitational anomaly detected!" Omega suddenly alerted.

"What was that?" Gadget gasped. Suddenly, the ground and the volcano beneath them began to rumble.

"Ahh! The ground! AHH!" Athena screamed.

"Is this a volcanic eruption?" Samson gaped as he tried to keep his footing.

"No! The frequency is more rapid!" Maria yelled over the thunder. "Something else is happening!"

At that moment, the heroes felt themselves being lifted into the air. Their heads began to feel light and their ears were close to popping. As the shaking finally stopped, everyone slowly opened their eyes and looked in shock at what they now saw.

The Hot Crater… was in the sky! The molten rocky mountains were floating without trouble and even some of the craters filled with magma were levitating with ease. The entire area was now a floating volcano!

"Whoa! This is all this?" Larcen exclaimed.

"Is this the gravitational anomaly that Violet was talking about?" Kera mused as she looked around. "Could the second piece of the Sanpglyph really be doing this?"

"Hmm… it looks like that the Sanpglyph has some supernatural properties that are unlike that to the Chaos Emeralds," Gadget said thoughtfully as scratched his chin. "I would like to do some research on it once we have it."

"Omega, do you know where to find it?" Maria asked.

"The second piece of the Sanpglyph is 36 miles southwest," Omega stated.

"Got it," Breezy nodded. "Time to make tracks guys!"

Before anyone could reply, Breezy was fleet-footing it at nearly 300 mph. She could've gone faster, but the sky volcano was a mess of curves and rocks that she could have been thrown out of the sky or into a burning crisp. Her friends where not too far behind but had a hard time to keep up. Just like her father, she hardly knew when to slow down.

The neo heroes soon came across a flying road with the same twists and loops Oddly enough, there were also some tornados in the area that were ready to give them extra lifts. Breezy, eager to get some miles, cut from the run took off over the road.

"Breezy, be careful!" Maria warned. "There is barely enough room to run here! You could fall!"

"No big deal!" Breezy yelled back over the hot winds. Some of the Iblis Monsters appeared in front of her, but she curled up into a ball and used her Homing Spin on each of them, "We all know that my agility and accuracy is always at 100%! Sides, we need to step up the beat if we wanna beat Mephiles' goons to the Sanpglyph!"

"But say if you DO fall!" Marisa said as she summoned small tornados to blow away some more Iblis Monsters that lunged at her.

"Then I'm counting on Gadget to airlift me back up!"

"Gee, thanks a lot!" Gadget exclaimed sarcastically.

"I aim to please, desu!" Breezy smirked playfully at him. She squealed in surprise as she soon noticed an edge appearing in front of her. She almost needed Gadget's flight ability but her quick instincts took over and she leaped over the edge and kick jumped of a floating slab of rock. She glided to another slab of rock and catapulted to another. And another. And she made a midair cartwheel before landing gracefully onto a lower road.

"See? We warned you!" the dark purple hedgehog shouted above her.

"But my accuracy kicked in, didn't it?" Breezy shouted back as she looked up. "I told you!"

"But you were too busy showing off to notice the turn," Larcen added.

"Yeah well, I still made it right?" Breezy continued. The argument was about to continue when a noise distracted them. Gadget's face turned pale as he saw something behind her. Breezy turned around to see what got him worked up. She twitched as she saw a huge fin made up of the same muddy magma as the Iblis Monsters approach her.

"What the-! A land shark!"

"Breezy, run for it!" Athena screamed. Without wasting a beat, she took of again with the fin hot on her heels. It wasn't as fast as her, but just as limber. Breezy was have a hard time shaking this flaming fish off her tail. She dared herself to look back. The fin was zigzagging left and right. It was like it had a mind all of its own!

Suddenly, the fin sank into the ground without another trace. This left the purple hedgehog perplexed. Why did it sink down? Did it decide to give it?

Answer: no.

The ground, or at least what was suppose to the ground, rumbled below her as she continued running. As it began to crack up, Breezy came to a sudden halt.

"KAYYYAAA!" Breezy screamed as the cracks became larger and made the magma visible. She leapt into the air just as the road finally broke apart and sent more stones into the air. As she looked below her, she witnessed her very first cosmic horror: a giant Iblis Monster-like-hammerhead shark with two rows of over fifty fangs!

"No way am I gonna be fish food!" Breezy swore as she began jumping from stone to stone as she kept herself away from the oncoming shark. The fish-out-of-water continued going up, its razor-sharp jaws waiting to sink its fangs into fresh meat.

"Breezy!" Gadget called over as he dove into the danger with his triple-tails spinning and his arms stretched out. Breezy made a leap of fate as she reached out and grasped on to her best friend's hand. He flew away from danger just as the shark's jaws snapped at absolutely nothing. Before it made its own escape, Kera got onto the shark's back and stabbed her freezing sword into the sharks back. As it made a blood curling shriek, she jumped off just in time as the shark froze up and exploded.

"Whew! Thanks for the save!" Breezy smiled sheepishly at Gadget as she continued to hold on. "I knew I could count on you!"

"I aim to please!" he smiled back.

"Oh hardy-har-har-har," she teased.

"Let's go!" Athena reminded them. "We still need to get to the Sanpglyph's location!"

"Ah, hey Gadget?" the younger purple hedgehog began as she looked at him again, "How bout we stick to the air for a while?"

"How come? Getting dizzy?"

"Naw, I just like the view better from up here."

"Alright then. Hang on!"

The team of heroes continued to make their way through the flying volcano. They went through twists, turns, popping fireballs and whirlwinds. It was obviously dangerous, but they were tough enough. After a couple of minutes, they reached a new area.

It was a colosseum. And an aged one at that. It was made up of fine stone and some of the broken pieces of the building were scattered along the arena. It was three times large than the legendary colosseum in Rome, Italy. And in the center, a large golden piece with an image of a chimera floated carelessly.

"Is that the second piece of the Sanpglyph?" Marisa blinked in disbelief. "It's so huge!"

"From the looks of the way it's glowing, I'd say that this Sanphlyph is indeed the cause of the gravitational anomaly," Kera said thoughtfully.

"Wow! Not even the Master Emerald is that big!" Athena exclaimed with widened eyes.

"Right, now we need to find some way taking it with us," Maria began. But before anyone of them could make a decision, Darcy appeared sitting on it in a flash of light.

"Awww… so you don't know what to do with this Sanphlyph…?" Darcy mocked with a grin on her face.

"Darcy…!" Breezy growled. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here, hedgehog?" Darcy replied with eyes narrowed. "I'm here for this Sanphlyph. Mephiles requires it."

"To revive the Army of Darkness?" Larcen frowned with clenched fists. "I don't think so!"

"Alright, fess up!" Athena shouted as she pointed. "We know that the Army of Darkness is just a part of Mephiles' plan, so what is he really after?"

"Humph! You can't possibly comprehend the pure brilliance of what the Soul of Solaris is trying to accomplish," Darcy huffed. "Though the shadow is separated from the flame, He will still rise again in all his glory through a new body and all those who oppose him will be obliterated by his blinding light!"

"What? New body… shadow separated from flame…?" Gadget wondered. He had a vague idea of what she meant by flame but the rest of the riddle threw him in a loop.

"See? Just as I thought. I don't have the time to deal with you at the moment, so instead I'll give you a new playmate." Just as she finished speaking, waves of fire shot down from the sky and resulted in an explosion of dust and spark. When it cleared, a new creature was revealed.

This monster looked like a giant three headed dragon with glowing emerald eyes on each head. The scales were like crusted ash and glowed with burning lava. It wrecked of sulphur and brimstone, which didn't help much with the volcano, despite the fact that it was still up float. Its claws were long and looked like they weren't groomed for a very long time. The tail was covered in sharp spikes and went all the way to the end of the tail. And last but not least, four flaming red wings were clearly visible, giving the beast the power of flight.

_"You rang?"_ the monster hissed.

"That thing can talk?" Breezy gaped in disbelief.

"Tend to these rejects," Darcy commanded as she gesture at Breezy and her friends. "I'm bringing this piece of the Sanphlyph back to Mephiles."

_"As you wish,"_ the monster seemingly bowed. Satisfied, Darcy vanished via Chaos Control, taking the Sanphlyph with her.

"Hey, get back here! We aren't finished!" Marisa shouted. With an inhuman growl, the dragon beast stood straight up, opened the middle mouth and blew a breath of fire at them, forcing them to retreat.

"That thing is strong!" Athena panted as she looked at the dragon. "This isn't like the other Iblis Monsters we fought! I'm sensing powerful energies from it!"

"Warning! Warning! Threat level of mysterious beast is critical!" Omega alerted along with her.

The monster laughed when he heard that_, "You are smart. I see that you know a powerful beast when you see one,"_ the monster continued as he seemed to speak in their minds. _"Yes, you are corrected. I am nothing like the minions. I am far above them!"_

"Then what are you?" Maria asked as Chaos Energy formed in her right hand.

_"I… am Atlas,"_ the creature now dubbed as Atlas introduced. _"The only son of Iblis! Everything around me burns- including time!"_

"The son of Iblis?" Gadget gasped. "Does that mean that Iblis can reproduce asexual?"

"_You are half right, boy,"_ Atlas corrected as he stood up again and made his four wings flap, making gust appear. _"But I no longer have the momentum of speaking to you. Now it is time for you to fry!"_ This time, all three mouths opened and blew a concentrated amount of fire. Everyone scattered to avoid getting burned.

Gadget rolled from the fire and quickly got on his feet. "What do we do?"

"We have to move higher up!" Kera answered. "That way we may have a better chance of attacking!"

"Watch out!" Marisa pointed as Atlas stood up and slammed his front paws down to create a burning shockwave. Everyone reacted quickly as they raced up to a higher point of the colosseum. Atlas noticed and approached them slowly.

"That's right… come closer…" Kera whispered. When Atlas was close enough, Kera unsheathed her sword and lashed out in frozen strikes. Atlas hissed in annoyance as Kera slashed his heads, but he didn't seem to be all that effected.

"You ugly piece of tar!" Marisa shouted as she fired numerous bolts of lighting over Atlas, "Take this!" Her lighting blasts created a huge thunder cloud over the fire beast. Without warning, a huge thunder bolt shot down and struck him hard, causing some more damage. Maria helped out by using her geokinesis to grip hold of the stones of the colosseum and throw them at Atlas' three faces.

_"You are irritating worms,"_ he snarled as he moved in closer and slammed his paws before them. The sheer force of it caused them to lose balance for a moment. The demonic dragon then began slashing his claws relentlessly, not caring what he hit. Several slabs of the colosseum began falling apart from it all as everyone did their best to avoid getting cut down to size.

Maria rolled away from another slash attack and gained second wind to levitate some of the fallen stones and threw them at Atlas again. She added to her assault by firing some blasts of Chaos Energy. This made Atlas even angrier.

_"Rraa!" _He roared as he fired a huge firebomb at the New Ultimate Lifeform. She was stunned, unable to escape in time. Luckily, Athena sped up in front of her and produced her Psycho Mirror to block the attack. The firebomb connected and exploded, throwing both girls off their feet.

Athena groaned as she slowly got up. She turned and helped her friend on her feet as she still shook the stars out of her head. "No bones broken, right?"

"I'll be fine," Maria nodded slowly.

"I'm surprise that my Psycho Mirror didn't reflect the firebomb back at Atlas though," Athena continued as she looked up at the son of the destroyer. "I was right about this guy when I sensed his power. Is his father really that flame freak that my mom and dad fought for all those months before?"

"If Atlas is truly this powerful, then his father must be a calamity," Maria nodded with a deep frown, "Now I see why they called Ibils the Flames of Disaster. He and his son are complete monsters."

As if he didn't like being ignored, Atlas roared as his three heads began to shoot fireballs at random directions. This caused Athena and Maria to make tracks. The others nearby followed suit. Athena quickly jumped on the higher edges of the colosseum. Once she was high enough, she leaped up and used her psychokinesis for some extra speed. She started landing kick after kick on Atlas' heads, fazing him even more. There was a huge explosion, making Athena land back on the launching platform, next to Breezy and Marisa.

"Breezy, Marisa! It's time to catch the wind!" Athena signaled. Both girls nodded; they knew what she meant.

Marisa focused her power as she made a small tornado beneath Breezy. The hedgehog in question began to spin into a ball as the tornado formed an orb around her. When the speed reach maximum capacity, Marisa shot the orb forward and Breezy used her power of the wind to exit the orb with even greater speed. She was now a streaking purple comet flying toward Atlas with deadly accuracy.

Unfortunately, Atlas was prepared for her. He whirled his huge mass body around as slapped his tail against her, sending her some feet away and into a wall.

"Shoot! Why isn't anything working?" Kera frowned after she saw that happen. "Samson, can you and Omega try to distract him with your guns?"

"Sure thing, senorita," Samson nodded as he loaded his weapons. Omega stood next to him and copied his actions. The duo began to fire their guns at the dragon. The bullets didn't seem to do all that much. The only thing that they were successful doing was trying to tick off Atlas, and that was what they wanted. When the demon dragon managed to tower over them amidst all the bullets, Samson and Omega stopped firing.

_"You persistent little grubs,"_ Atlas hissed as he showed his dirty fangs, _"What did you hope to accomplish from that feeble attack?"_ He got his answer when a sharp pain dug into his back, making him roar in pain. Samson couldn't help but smirk.

"That."

Atlas' three heads turned around and saw Kera stabbing her Dragon Sword at the base of his necks. Snarling, the middle head dove in with its fangs bearing. Kera had enough momentum to jump back as the head accidentally ended up gnawing at his wound. The head quickly rose back up, showing a gash with some purple mist smoking from it.

"Huh?" Kera blinked as she saw the strange mist. "What is that?"

She didn't have the time to continue thinking as the other two heads lunged at her and began snapping their jaws. She continued to jump backwards and defended herself with her sword. After knocking the left head down with her electrified blade, she jumped on the head and ran along the neck. The remaining two heads lunged and began to snap, being very careful not to make another mistake. Kera was thankfully agile, thanks to her years in training. She jumped from the dragon and rejoined her friends.

Larcen and Gadget helped Breezy back up when she came to. The navy hedgehog and the green triplet tailed kitsune/alien stuck out from the fight since their own skills weren't meant to face a fifty-foot demonic dragon, especially with the condition they were in. "Kera," Larcen called over, "You alright?"

"I managed to make a weak spot on Atlas," Kera explained, "But I doubt it will do much good. We have to think of something else."

A huge rumble interrupted her thought. The heroes turned around and saw Atlas' three heads hovering ever so close to them. So close that they could smell his sulphur breath. It seemed like he decided that if he couldn't beat them, we would just eat them.

"I have one query," the dark purple hedgehog began, "If your father, Ibiis, no longer exists, then how is it that you do?"

_"Well… since you asked…"_ Atlas replied._ "When the combined efforts of Sonic, Shadow and Silver defeated Solaris, Father Mephiles managed to take some of Solaris' essence with him. When he did, that essence reverted back into a piece of Iblis. Since he was unable to become Solaris again with a small fragment of the body, he used his power to create me!"_

Larcen blinked at the explanation. That explained how this was all happening. That meant Mephiles wasn't really killed when this Solaris was defeated. He had a failsafe plan just incase his schemes went up in smoke. But what was it?

Suddenly, Atlas' heads rose up and his paw moved up and came crashing down in front of them. Cracks ran from his paw and around everyone was the floor shook. When one of the cracks reached Breezy, they formed around her. Her area gave way and she fell through the hole, screaming.

"Oh no!" Gadget gasped.

Atlas cackled as he let his wings out and flew out of site.

"Where is he going?" Marisa wondered.

"I have a bad felling about this…" Athena grimaced.

* * *

Breezy tumbled out of a hole and fell face first to the ground. She groaned as she nursed her face and stood up. She looked around and found herself in an alter of some sort.

"Breezy! Breezy, say something!" Gadget's panicked voice yelled from the hole that she came from.

"I'm okay!" she yelled back.

"What do you see down there?" Marisa's voice called down.

"It looks like something out of a temple." Breezy walked some short paces as she looked around. "I gotta find a way outta here…" she said to herself.

Just then, the alter shook, forcing Breezy to fall flat on her tail. In front of her, the primary head of Atlas rammed inside. _"Shall we continue our moment of bliss together? I shall take sweet time manhandling you!"_

"Oh barf! I don't need THAT!" Breezy retorted in disgust. "Especially not from YOU!"

Atlas' primary head jostled and twisted, making the alter shake again. If Breezy didn't know any better, she could have sworn she felt herself being lifted into the air. Atlas' single head started to snap and shoot blasts of fire at Breezy, but the young hedgehog was fast and jump on walls as well as rolling along the ground to avoid getting burned. With all the movement going around the alter, this was proving to be a strain for her. She had to find a way to end the fight and fast.

One of the blasts that Atlas fired broke off a piece of stone. That gave Breezy the break she needed. She swiftly kicked the stone into the mouth of the beast as it opened again. It went in and began to make him suffocate. After a few hard coughs, Atlas' mouth glowed in flaming energy and let loose a huge blast, making the alter explode and throwing Breezy onto a floating platform. She slowly got up and saw Atlas hovering down on a large platform and landing.

"Breezy!" Maria shouted from the colosseum below.

"I'll be fine!" Breezy yelled back down. When she saw how high she really was, she blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Bummer Majoris… so this is why Athena and her mom hates high places so much." As she looked back at Atlas, she saw the purple fog coming from his back. "Is that where Kera made her mark? That smoke almost feels like…"

_"Your father died to revive my father,"_ Atlas mocked as his heads leaned closer. _"And now… you will too."_

"That's where you're wrong," Breezy frowned as she slowly raised her arm up. In a second, her hand shot up and stretched out at Atlas. Atlas jerked and suddenly stood up right. He tried to move, but it was all for naught.

_"What… what is going on?"_ he demanded. Breezy's fingers moved around. Atlas seemed to react as his joints made all kinds of movements, but not the ones he wished. _"What are you doing to me?"_

"How does it feel to be the puppet now?" Breezy smirked as she continued her handiwork. "Remember the wound that Kera made on you? I couldn't feel it before, but now I have the clear advantage."

_"What…? No!"_ Atlas gawked in horror. _"My Chaos Energy!"_

"Wrong! It's MY Chaos Energy now!" Breezy said as she pulled her hand back. "Your power is now my power! With it, I can do whatever I want!"

Atlas roared in pain as the purple energy ripped from his back and entered Breezy. She closed her eyes and allowed the new energy to run through her. In a flash of light, she glowed in a blue aura with her eyes glowing bright green.

Back in the colosseum, everyone else saw the flash of light. "What was that?" Marisa gasped. "I feel a huge surge of power…"

"It's Breezy!" Maria smiled. "She took Atlas' Chaos Energy! She must have found a way!"

"That means she has this one in the bag!" Larcen grinned.

Back in the stratosphere, the now empowered Breezy stood before the weakened Atlas. The dragon growled as he spread his wings. She managed to take some of his power, but he knew it was only temporary. There's no way he'd let her get away with this!

_"Either way, I will still defeat you!"_ he roared as he flew at her. Breezy simply stood there with her feet apart and her arms looping. At the last minute, Breezy jumped higher than ever as Atlas' claws crushed her launching pad. As she came back down, she took hold of his tail and began to swing him around and around. He felt pretty heavy in her arms, but she still managed to spin with the help of her wind power. When she decided that he had enough, she released him and sent him into a huge slab of rocks, making them break upon impact.

_"Chaos…" _she started as she formed a ball of blue light in her hands while suspending herself in a tornado, _"Control!"_ She released the light in a huge blast of time control energy. With time put in reverse, she made a pathway by collecting stones together and began to run on it, towards Atlas. When she was about three to four feet away, she jumped into the air and came down with a surging kick. It made impact and pushed Atlas farther down. She jump back up again and made several wind spears appear around her. She snapped her fingers and the spears slammed into Atlas. The attack continued to weaken him, but he managed to blow them away with his wings.

Atlas began to charge at Breezy who began to retreat by jumping on the floating slabs. She managed to kick them to the dragon as she did her evasive maneuvers, but he managed to blast most of them out of the way.

"You need to freeze!" Breezy said as she snapped her fingers, activating Chaos Control again. Only now, it suspended everything, including Atlas. "Here I come!" Breezy said as she charged up with blue electricity. She glowed brighter with electricity and shot down at Atlas. She became a blue and purple thunder bolt with the rate she was going. Just as she deactivated Chaos Control, a huge thunder strike erupted. Everyone shelled their eyes, wondering just what the hell happened. When they reopened their eyes, they saw Atlas crashing down in the middle of the arena in a much more smoking heap than before. When they saw Breezy floating down, her aura vanishing, they all jumped down and ran over.

"Breezy, you did it!" Gadget cheered as he ran over to hug her. He blinked as he noticed her panting hard. He could feel her warm and heavy breath on his ear. "Are you alright?"

"I'm cool," she smiled tiredly, "That… took a lot out of me."

"You did real good, Breezy," Kera smiled as she patted her on the back. "Using that opened wound I made to steal Atlas' Chaos Energy and use it against was defiantly something else."

"Yeah! But don't do it again!" Athena smiled as she hugged her behind her back, "We almost lost you!"

"Hmm… I'll think about it," Breezy grinned back.

_"You… may have beaten me…"_ Atlas began, catching everyone's attention. His body seemed to dispatch in orange light as he turned hollow, _"But in the end, you will be driven to despair. You are nothing more than pawns, in the palm of Father Mephiles' hand. All you can do is flock about with the very little time you have left!..."_ His maniacal laugh was the last the heard of him as Atlas completely vanished in orange light.

_"The sea of darkness and light will consume you…"_

"At least he's gone," Marisa sighed in relief.

"Yeah…" Larcen nodded with uncertainty in his voice.

"Something the matter?" Samson asked.

"Atlas said that it was Mephiles who created him with a piece of Ibils' body. If he's right, then Mephiles was still alive even after all those years."

"And that would mean…" Kera realized with eyes widened.

Larcen nodded. "It's only a theory but… perhaps Mephiles anticipated his defeat; he knew that he would lose. All of this is Plan B. He's planning on something bigger than the Flames of Disaster. We know that it involves the Army of Darkness, but Darcy also said that he was looking for a new body."

"Do you think… he's after the Queen of Soleanna's body?" Marisa said hesitantly. "Maybe that's why she vanished? I mean… she use to be the host of Ibils. So…"

"The odds of that being his motive is 65%," Omega stated.

"I hope not. But now it's safe to say that Mephiles had this all planed for a very long time."

"And so he kidnapped our parents to make sure they didn't get in the way and because he no longer needed to manipulate them," Maria added.

"But he never expected us," Breezy finished.

"Well, the gravitational anomaly should stop in a little while," Larcen said. "I think we should regroup and think of our next plan of action."

"Yes," Maria nodded. "Breezy, Athena, help me out please."

The three girls put their powers together and formed a bright flash of Chaos Control. When the flash vanished, they were gone with it. Unknown to the team of heroes, a lone figure had been watching the battle from afar. His arms were folded as his cape flowed in the wind.

"Her abilities are growing stronger in a faster rate than I expected," the Blue Phantom said thoughtfully. "To use the monster's own power against it; it was very imaginative." He turned around and walked up to the other edge of the platform. "You should be very proud of your daughter, Sonic… wherever you are…" Seeing that there was nothing else left to do, he twirled his cape and vanished in a haze of blue rose petals.

* * *

Sonic watched as a plate of… whatever it was- dropped before him. He looked up and glared at the Iblis Monster that present his "meal" as it left the chamber. Even though Mephiles said he treated his prisoners well, he refused to believe that. Especially with the kind of food they we're given for the past few days. From what Amy once told him, Eggman had better treatment with his prisoners.

"I don't know if he wants to poison us or keep us alive," Sonic muttered as he pulled at the goopy substance with a fork. Next to him, Amy was flipping a deck of tarot cards in her hands. She didn't even touch her "food".

"Amy, what are you doing?" Blaze asked as she and Silver looked over from their cell.

"I never told you guys this before," Amy began, her eyes still closed, "But I'm a seer. That was really the main reason why Eggman kidnapped me for the first time. My future seeing powers comes and goes from time to time, however. I dropped my hobby when I began chasing Sonic, but this will keep me entertained for awhile." She skillfully dropped the cards into a stack. Pulling out one random card, she flipped it over and saw the image: it looked like a blue wyvern, a very fiendish blue wyvern. Underneath it where the words, "The Beast."

"Oh no," Amy moaned with widen eyes.

"What is it?" Knuckles asked.

"He's looking for another body," she glared.


	16. Militant Missionary

**Ch 16: Militant Missionary  
**

"Atlas was defeated?" Mephiles commented as Darcy gave him the bad news. "Absurd. Then again, he wasn't as strong as his biological father. I am surprised that the purple brat managed to steal his power, though."

"But my lord," Darcy said, "Atlas was still very powerful. He could command volcanoes at will. How could that idiot and her followers managed to defeat him? Pardon me for saying this, but the only reason why his father was defeated in the first place was because he was absorbed by that woman."

"As I said before, Atlas wasn't as powerful as Ibils," Mephiles reminded her as he sipped more of his wine. "He didn't have enough strength to engulf the world in flames as his father. If he did, then I wouldn't be going through this much trouble, now would I? Secondly, perhaps you may have forgotten that the Hot Crater Volcano was suspended in the air due to the abnormal powers of the Sanpglyph."

"Yes, of course," Darcy nodded. She cursed herself for not remembering that.

"And Ibils did have some limitations of his own," Mephiles continued.

"Really?" Darcy blinked. "Like what?"

"Ibils was always aligned to the ground as he received most of his power from beneath the Earth's surface," Mephiles explained. "That is why he always returned every time he was defeated. Goes with the phrase: 'the phoenix rises from the ashes.' Should in anyway Ibils be somehow separated from the ground and suspended in the air, he would have been in a clear disadvantage."

"So then there was more than one way to destroy Iblis after all?"

"Yes. I purposefully withheld that information from Silver and Blaze. They were willing to do anything to restore their world, even if it meant killing someone else in another… perhaps Blaze wasn't so willing, but I knew Silver was zealous. As she always told him, he was naïve, and that made it easy to persuade him."

"Hmm…"

"But enough of that. I managed to find the next location of the Chaos Emerald. My spies have informed me that the next Chaos Emerald is being locked in a G.U.N. Facility."

"And you wish for me and Rothion to steal it," Darcy finished for him in a loyal manner.

"Correct," the shadowy hedgehog nodded. "You know what to do."

"As you wish," Darcy curtsied.

* * *

Meanwhile, back a Station Square, everyone was cooling off after the heated adventure in Hot Crater. Athena was really hungry, so she was stuffing herself with potato chips with Daisy. Gadget was fanning Breezy with his tails as they sat comfortably on the couch. Larcen was giving Marisa a soothing back rub. Omega was recharging his booster systems as Maria sat against him reading a girls magazine with Eli looking over her shoulder. Kera and Samson passed the time by playing Old Maid. Zed was listening to his mp4. Lastly, Violet sat on the chair, looking for anything good to watch on television.

All in all, they had no idea of where to go next.

"Oh, man," Breezy groaned. "How many days has it been since this whole thing started?"

"Don't know," Maria said as she turned her page. "I lost track."

"It's been five days so far," Gadget answered. "It's weird though, it felt longer."

"Wow, I don't know how they do it," Marisa sighed as she relaxed in Larcen's arms, "Going through dangerous terrains in super high speeds is really something else."

"Tell me about it," Larcen added. "I'm getting tired just remembering all of those places we've been to."

"Shoot, this is rough," Breezy sighed as she sat up. "We only have one Chaos Emerald so far, while Mephiles and his goons have three Emeralds plus two pieces of that San-thingy. How are we ever going to get our parents back if this keeps up?"

"You honestly thought this was going to be easy?" Kera said as she set down her cards, showing a full house; Samson groaned. "There is always going to be obstacles when it comes to things like Chaos Emeralds."

"Yeah, but the stories they told us about their past adventures made it sound easy," Gadget said.

With Athena and Daisy, it wasn't long before their bag of chips ran out. "Uh oh!" the said together as they shook the bag, "We're out of chips!"

"What?" Breezy blinked as she looked at them. "Oh dang, I thought we had more."

"Hm," Violet said lazily as she stopped at one of the channels, "Oh look, it's that tournament."

"Tournament?" Samson asked.

Zed apparently had a sixth sense for these things, because he soon took of his earphones and grinned. "I was wonder when that thing would come on. It's only the biggest fighting tournament in the world! Anybody who thinks they got the guts can join in!"

"People who fight for pleasure?" Maria frowned as she looked from her magazine, "I'll pass."

Just then, Violet's cell phone rang. Blinking for a moment, she took from her pocket and answered. "Yes?"

"Jewels here," she sounded to be in a hurry, "Breezy and the others with you?"

"Yeah, Breezy's here. Why?"

"Huh?" Breezy zipped next to Violet and placed her ear next to the phone. "What's up?"

"We have trouble! Those Ibils Monsters are attacking the G.U.N. Fortress!"

"What?"

"It's those Ibils Monsters! They appeared and began burning everything in sight! None of the other troopers have been trained to fight them and we're running low on water! I think… they're after the Chaos Emerald that's locked up here!"

"Wait," Violet interrupted her with narrowed eyes. "The G.U.N. had a Chaos Emerald? And you didn't say anything?"

"Rules and regulations prevent me from doing that."

"One other thing," Breezy continued, "Is there an owl with a magician's get up and a bat in gothic clothing?"

"Uh… yeah! It looked as if they were commanding those things! You saw them before?"

"Yeah, they seem to be the main goons of Mephiles. We had a lot of run-ins with them."

"Well anyway, you guys better guy your asses here right now!"

"Right, right. Keep your shirt on," Breezy said as Violet hung up. She turned and saw everyone else close by. "So you heard?"

"Every word," Samson nodded.

"So the next stop is G.U.N. huh?" Kera spoke. "We'd better get to it."

"Well, come on! We have to hurry!" Gadget said. "I can take us there with the X-Tornado!"

* * *

Things were not going good in the G.U.N. Fortress. The solders were doing their best to hold of the Ibils Monsters, but it was tough to face fire demons from Hell if you weren't trained for it. Not to mention that they were running low on water supplies. And to add insult to injury, the Aqua Fiends soon appeared and began their own attack.

Jewels was doing a far job, having faced the monsters once before. She was throwing combo after combo at the current monster she was facing, making it stagger with each blow. With one more uppercut, she knocked the thing into the air, killing it.

"Man. How many of these things are there?" she cursed to herself. "I don't know if we can take much more of this."

"Hey Jewels!"

The echidna spy looked behind her and saw the reinforcement that she called for jumping down before her. "Hey Jewels. What's shakin'?" Breezy greeted.

"What's up?" Jewels nodded back, "Glad you all made it here when you did."

"Let me guess," Kera said, "Another Chaos Emerald is here and Mephiles wants to burn the base to get it."

"It pretty much looks that way," Jewels answered. "The G.U.N. has been using most of the water supply to try and kill off the monsters in a quick effort. Problem is that more keep coming back. Now we're at the end of our rope. Since you faced the monsters before, I thought we could use your help."

"What about the Chaos Emerald?" Maria asked.

"That bat and owl must be headed there as we speak so we need to beat them there. Radian is already trying to intercept them right now. Half of you should get to him and back him up while the other have should follow me. If we're lucky, we can all meet up to the Emerald's location. Then we can find a way to hide it and sneak it out from there."

"Alright then," Larcen nodded. "We'll do what we can."

"Hmm. Thanks for the enthusiasm, blue," Jewels smirked at him, a hint of her inherited seductive nature bleeding out.

Larcen's face went red as he tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it. Jewels couldn't help but grin. She still got it. Marisa gave her an annoyed glare with her red eyes flashing dangerously. For some reason, she wanted to just zap the albino echidna dead, but she didn't know why. Kera and Gadget managed to keep straight faces while Samson snickered. Breezy, Maria and Athena just rolled their eyes. Even in the dire of situations she still finds the time to flirt with other guys.

"Alright already!" Marisa finally sighed in exasperation, "Let's go!"

"I'll take Gadget, Maria, Kera and Larcen with me," Breezy suggested.

"Then that leaves me with Athena, Omega, Samson and Marisa," Jewels nodded as she got serious again. "Let's get going!"

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways to get the Chaos Emerald.

* * *

Radian was running through one of the corridors that lead to the Chaos Emerald. He knew very well that the Iblis Monsters were attempting to steal the Emerald and he needed to make sure that it didn't happen.

It didn't take that long for him to get to the danger grid chambers. When he did, he spotted a new face: Darcy the Bat.

"I wouldn't go any farther if I were you," Radian threatened as he trained his gun on her.

Darcy turned around to face him, and smiled. "Hm, hm. What do we have here? A bird whose lost his flock?"

"That's rich," he frowned. "Now, come forward slowly and get on the ground."

"Are you joking?" she frowned at him. "This base's floors are riddled with bacteria and germs. Do you want me to get SICK?" she yelled as she fired blasts of dark energy at him.

Radian jumped on a wall to avoid the attack and hopped on to a hook to avoid another blast. Darcy fired another blast at the rope that held the hook. Radian jumped down just as the rope snapped and fired several rounds from his magnum.

"Oh please," Darcy snorted as she produced her shield. The lasers hit and veered off course, either sinking into walls or turning around and the ceiling.

"Well shit," Radian frowned.

"Indeed, you are very deep in it," Darcy grinned threateningly as she produced her blood red blade. "I was going to allow you to live, but now I think I'm in the mood for some turkey."

Before she could move in for the kill, a glowing green blur appeared and struck her, knocking her some feet away. She recovered fast enough to see Larcen, who was glowing in a green aura.

"You again," she frowned.

"Right," he quipped as he took out his dagger, "Me again."

Meanwhile, Radian was helped back on his feet by Breezy and Kera as Maria and Gadget arrived long after. "I take it Jewels told you what was going on," Radian said.

"Yeah, she mentioned that a Chaos Emerald was here," Kera replied as she narrowed her eyes at Darcy as she gripped the hilt of her sword. "We need it, but so do they."

"I see," he nodded. "Well, we need to protect the Emerald at all costs anyway, so be my guest."

"What about the Commander?" Maria asked.

"Her orders are clear: prevent the intruders from taking the Emerald. Even if it means giving it to you guys, we need to do what we must."

Back to the battle, Larcen and Darcy were going head to head. Larcen threw his fists as if they were machine guns at the bat, but she didn't seem to be faced. She managed to float back to her right, but Larcen was still close to her. He leaped forward and threw his dagger out. Darcy clenched her fangs as she brought out her blade and blocked it. As she shoved him off, she began swinging her blade viciously. Thanks to Larcen's enhanced agility, he managed dodge all of the strikes that she dished out, all but one that cut his leg, making blood appear from it. Larcen cringed at the sudden pain. Darcy grinned as she grabbed Larcen by his neck and threw him over her back. After a painful flight, he crashed on his back. His aura vanished upon impact.

Kera decided to be the next one to make her move. With her Dragon Sword being dragged along the ground, she charged at Darcy. Darcy noticed and mimicked Kera's movements as she and charged at her. When they were with in reach, both swordswomen forced another into a short deadlock. Suddenly, Kera's sword went ablaze, making Darcy's eyes widen. Kera pushed the bat away as she sent streaks of fire at her, making her fly up. Darcy seethed silently. The main disadvantage that she had was that she was unable to use her other powers as long as she had her sword. And Kera was not going to let her do that.

Speaking of the Sword Demon, she looked up momentarily at Darcy before running for the wall and running up on it. After she got some distance, she jump on some canisters and came down on Darcy, aiming to slice her in two. Darcy quickly brought her blade up and blocked it, forcing both women back to Earth. After they landed, Darcy tried to get some distance by doing back flips, but Kera followed by doing cartwheels. The two ended up clashing swords again and even did kicks while they were at it. Darcy when for Kera's legs, but she used the bat's face as a springboard and leaped from the danger. Darcy growled as she tried a dash kick, but Kera managed to sidestep, making Darcy miss her completely. As she skidded along the ground, Darcy suddenly grinned as she dismissed her blade. Kera's eyes widened as she realized that she was tricked.

"Crud…"

"Payback time!" Darcy laughed as she dark orbs at the dark purple hedgehog. Kera swung her at each orb as it reached her, eight in total. Darcy made the last orb very large and launched it at her. This time Kera had to freeze the orb and then cut it with her flash blade. As the dark ice shattered around her, Kera saw that Darcy had vanished.

"Where are you…?" she growled as her eyes darted around. "Show yourself!"

"Behind you."

Before she had time to even gasp, she felt a slap to her head, making her stagger forward. Fuming, she turned to face Darcy. "You b-!"

"Bat," she interrupted. "And don't you forget it."

Kera was caught off guard when Darcy suddenly went face to face with her. In the same manner as she did with Maria, she pressed her palm on Kera's chest and unleashed a point blank blast that sent her crashing into a wall, leaving a heavy imprint on it as she slid down.

Maria's eyes narrowed as she remembered that attack. After healing Larcen, she activated her jets, skated forward and did a spinning kick on the Darcy. She was sent flying and landed on her back.

"Remember me?" Maria frowned.

"Hnn," Darcy just said as she as she stood up. She made her moved and lunged at Maria. However, the black echidna was more willing to fight now. Clenching her fists, she focused her earth powers and slammed them down, causing pillars of stone to pop up in front of her. Darcy was veered off course because of this and crashed on to the floor.

_"Chaos Megaton!"_ Maria called as she rushed at the recovering Darcy. At the speed that made it like a flash to the untrained eye, Maria bashed her glowing fist under Darcy's chin and sent her flying higher. Maria really hated fighting, but when you can't stop an enemy with words, what else could you do?

Breezy wanted in the fight, so she Spin Dashed Darcy just as she landed, making her fly back. She managed to land on her feet, but now her injuries were getting deeper. "You people just don't know when to quit," she growled.

"What can I say?" Breezy smirked as she flipped her quills, "Runs in the family."

Darcy growled again as she ran forward and sent a kick a Breezy. The purple hedgehog simply jumped over her and landed on the other side. Darcy swiftly turned and fired her destructive green beams at Breezy. Breezy laughed as she did some cartwheels to avoid the blasts of explosive energy. Before Darcy could try anything else, Breezy dashed up and below her, and sent a heel kick up her face. Darcy ended up getting through across the floor, but she quickly got back her balance.

"Imprudent juvenile!" Darcy seethed. She threw out a boomerang blade with deadly accuracy. Breezy gaped in shock and crossed her arms in front, forcing her to take the hit. This made her tumble across the floor for a bit before stopping. Slowly, she looked up… just in time to see Darcy stalking her with her hands glowing pitch black.

"Breezy! Get up!" Gadget shouted.

Before Darcy could get another step farther, a projectile came flying at her face. She quickly caught it, but her eyes widened as she saw the blue rose glowing in a bright sapphire color.

"What the-?"

Before she had the time to finish, the rose exploded in a beautiful blast and sent Darcy some feet away. Looking up, she saw the Blue Phantom, with a pack of roses in hand. "From the land of water and flames, tea in the morning sun, comes the goodwill ambassador of love and destiny."

**The Goodwill Ambassador of Love and Destiny!**

"I am the Blue Phantom."

After she recovered, Kera's eyes narrowed at the cape crusader while Neo had an eyebrow arched. He remembered that the Phantom had broken into the base before and now everyone was looking for him. So what was he doing here? He can't be that dumb.

"Who the hell are you?" Darcy frowned.

"I don't like repeating myself," the Phantom said smoothly as he tensed. "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance."

Darcy growled as she spread out her wings and lunged. The Phantom stood ready as he let his feet turn ablaze.

* * *

Meanwhile with Jewels group, she and her team were going through the hallways of their path. When they reached the next door, Jewels' Chaos Senses acted up and she raised her arm to make her team stop momentarily.

"One of the intruders must be behind this door," Jewels said as she handed Samson back his guns after she did something with them. "Stay frosty and get ready to move in on my mark." She counted down with her fingers as she mouthed the words. Once she reached three, she kicked the door opened and they charged in. This started the one that was now before them: Rothion the Owl.

"Eh?" the owl in question gaped as he turned around. Once he found his opponents, he returned to his ignorant personality. "Hehehe, so we met again, heroes! I commend you for making it this far!" he cackled.

"You've been figured out, Rothion!" Samson said as he pointed one of his upgraded pistols at the dark magician. "We're already on to you!"

"Heh, perhaps. But you do not know everything I'm afraid!" Rothion sneered.

"Really?" Jewels raised an eyebrow. "Alright, time to play stool pigeon. What is Mephiles really after?"

Rothion merely snickered. "I am no stool pigeon. My loyalty towards Mephiles is at a high that will never comprehend. He is the only one who can give me something I so truly desire."

"And what would that be?" Marisa asked.

"As I already said, I am no stool pigeon," Rothion said as he pulled out his battle axe. "I do believe that we have some unfinished business we have yet to settle. Prepare to die!" He yelled as he threw the axe like a tomahawk.

"Danger! Avoid enemy projectile!" Omega alerted. Everyone got away from axe just as it crossed them. Just as the Rothion caught it, Omega made the first assault as he rushed forward with his boosters giving him speed. Rothion managed to jump back as the last E-Series robot swiped his claws and fists. Rothion ducked under another claw and grabbed another fist; he through Omega around and tossed him over his shoulder.

Jewels was walking up behind Rothion just as Omega landed adjacent to her. She pounded her fists together, making a clanking sound. Just as Rothion saw her come, she picked up the pace and began to charge. She threw her spiked fists at his face, only for him to duck and move his head away from her lethal weapons. He countered the attacks by swinging his axe at her face, but she was just as swift. It seemed like the fight would go on forever. Finally, Jewels found an opening and slammed her fist at Rothion's stomach, making the owl hunch forward in pain. Jewels proceeded to ram her fists all over his body and then send a cross punch at his chest, making him stagger back. Jewels smirked as her hands caught on fire.

First she moved the ball of her left boot back as she prepared, and them she dashed. _"Volcanic…"_ she swung her left burning fist down at Rothion's head, _"…Upper!"_ And than she raised the other fist into an uppercut, creating a geyser of fire as she did. Rothion was thrown backwards, a sore bird.

"Over here!" Samson whistled as Rothion got back up to his feet. As the swallow pointed one of his guns at him, Rothion only laughed.

"Must we really try this again, mon ami?" Rothion sneered.

"This is different," Samson smiled. He moved the gun up to the ceiling above Rothion and fired. Instead of bullets, steaming red arrow heads shot up and ricocheted down behind Rothion. It exploded, sending Rothion forward.

"Wh… what?" Rothion gasped in shock and anger.

"That's basic G.U.N. ingenuity for you," Jewels said as she cracked her dad's namesakes. "I gave Samson a little upgrade on his guns since average bullets won't do much good. Now they can shoot focused beams of kinetic laser energy."

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Athena smiled.

"T'is a hassle! That's what it is!" Rothion snarled as he jumped back on his feet.

"Si? Well than deal with it!" Samson shouted as he fired blue kinetic laser blasts. These lasers were moving faster than the red ones, but they weren't as powerful. Rothion didn't even have the time to absorb the shots through his axe and was forced get out of the way instead. Like the red shots, the blue shots ricocheted off the walls, making it hard to avoid.

"Better keep myself from using my flames," Athena said to herself as she stepped up to bat. She rushed in and struck Rothion with her fists and feet and then telepathically sung him around and tossed him away. After Rothion landed, he launched two energy blades from his axe from the ground up. Athena quickly hovered over them and mentally picked up some crates and threw them. Rothion's axe easily cut them into pieces. Making a fanged grunt, she lifted a larger number of crates and threw them out with a swift motion of her hand. Rothion sent another ricochet blade to cut all of them at once. Athena managed to produce her shield and reflected the blade. Rothion sidestepped as soon as it came. This resulted in an explosion behind him.

"You're mine!" Jewels roared as she charged at him. Just before the owl had time to react, she unleashed a barrage of rapid punches that totaled over 100. He was caught by surprise when the force of the blows actually sent him back a foot or two. He caught himself before he could fall, but he was slightly unsteady on his feet for a brief moment. But she wasn't done with him, for she rushed in and grabbed his shoulder and thrust her right fist into his gut and threw him into the air, full force.

"Take this!" Athena shouted as she went after the flying Rothion, _"Scorch Wheel!"_ She turned into a burning spinball and rammed Rothion into the ground. As she landed some feet away from him, he struggled onto his feet.

"Well…" Rothion panted as he tried to keep his footing. His armor was scorched and bruised from the fight. "It appears I have underestimated you today. Very well; I yield to you. However, you will see more of me! The sea of darkness and light will consume you!" And he wrapped his cape around, vanishing.

Jewels panted for awhile and held her head. "Ignorant bird…"

"We have to step up the pace of we want to catch up with Breezy and the others," Marisa said.

"Agreed," Jewels responded. "Let's move!"

* * *

After they managed to fend off Darcy, Breezy and her group, with the Blue Phantom joining them, managed to reach the vault area were the Chaos Emerald was being held. The area itself contained several special items on pillars in force fields. One particular pillar held the white Chaos Emerald. As they got through, they scanned the area for any intrusions.

"That's good, no one has made it through," Radian responded.

"Heh, easy picking," Breezy smirked as she gave a thumbs up.

"Now, let's get that Emerald out of here," Radian said as he walked to a computer that was before the center pillar, the one with the Emerald.

"Hey guys! So you made it!" Marisa shouted as the other team reached them. "So how'd it go?"

"Darcy did give us some troubles, but it was nothing to really get worried about," Larcen told her.

"Well, glad to see that we're all in one peace," Athena said.

Jewels eyes widened just as she noticed the Phantom. "You!" She glared as she pointed at him. "What the heck are you doing back here?"

"That's not really any of your concern," he said as he eyed her.

"I make it my concern since you broke in here once before. Just what are you trying to do?"

The Phantom didn't answer, which agitated her. Still, whatever he was hiding, she would find out.

"Got it!" Radian exclaimed as he typed in the last commands and disengaged the shield, leaving the Emerald exposed."Alright, now we need to find someway to get this Emerald out as quickly and safely as possible."

"Right," Maria nodded.

Suddenly, the area around them began to shift and twist. Dark flashes erupted around them, causing them to look around franticly.

"What's going on?" Kera gasped.

"What's with the tie-dye imagery?" Breezy exclaimed.

"It feels almost like… like Chaos Control!" Maria stammered.

"It's… him," the Phantom whispered.

Just then, the area stopped being weird. Once it did, however, a dark void opened up behind the Emerald. A crystallized hand reached out, grabbed the Emerald, and vanished, leaving behind only a chilling laughter.

"What… was that?" Marisa gasped.

"Everyone… I think we've just taken a glimpse of our prime enemy," Kera frowned.

"He's toying with us, he was waiting for us to unlock the safe so he could take the Emerald," Jewels growled. "He used Chaos Control to distract us and take the Emerald from under our noses… damn him!" she shouted as she slammed her fist into a wall, leaving a huge indent.

"So now what?" Gadget asked.

"I'm afraid that Radian and I will have to report this to the Commander," Jewels continued as she brought herself together, "Meanwhile, the rest of you should keep looking for the remaining Chaos Emeralds. I have a feeling that Mephiles is sending us a message… one that says that this is the second half of the game and the stakes have risen."

"Got it," Larcen nodded.

"Oh, one more thing," Maria added. "How is Eggman?"

"He's recuperating quite well," Radian answered. "In fact, he is now so sane, that he has decided to give up his world domination plans and use his intelligence to help society. No strings attached."

"At least there's one less mad scientist we have to deal with now," Marisa grinned.

"Oh yeah. A good thing for sure. Let's go Radian," Jewels said to him with a wave of her hand. The phoenix nodded and the duo walked away.

"Come on, we'd better head out too," Athena said.

"Yeah," Breezy nodded. "Hey Phantom Dude, what about-?" she asked as she turned around, but she found him gone, once again leaving his blue rose calling card. "Humph. He ran away again," she sighed dejectedly.

"…" Kera just frowned.


	17. A Hedgehog No Island

**Ch 17: A Hedgehog No Island  
**

Back on Eggman Nega's flagship, he watched as his next machine was being developed by his robots. One of his robots came up to him with a dish.

"Here is you meal, sir," the robot said as it removed the silver cover, showing a well done steak.

"Thank you," Eggman Nega said politely as took the dish and began eating. "Good thing I took the time to know what I'm up against this time around. I have been analyzing the abilities of the children for some time now, and I must say I am quite impressed." After chewing on his piece of meat, he pressed some keys on his armrest. Several screen appeared before him, each one showing the children of the heroes which he encountered.

"Let's start with the hedgehog girl. Breezy, was it? She appears to have inherited his speed and Chaos Powers, as well her ability to manipulate wind at her will. Very agile with deadly kicks, also just like her father. She also seems to share his weaknesses, and from her mother as well. She cannot use most of her full power without a Chaos Emerald. She is greatly aquaphobic and can get excited all too quickly. She is also very feminine and… how do I put this?... girly, which she got from her mother. Still, she is the one I must deal with the most.

"Then is echidna girl… Maria. I can see that she was named after my dear forth cousin. She has all of Shadow's powers; super strength, Chaotic Manipulation and the power to control time at will. She also has a power to move the earth which I have never seen before. Although, it appears that she is a pacifist and is usually unwilling to fight, so I may not have to worry about her so much. But you know what they say about being wary of the nice ones…

"Then comes the child of my two foremost sworn enemies, Athena. So she has inherited both their psychokinesis and pyrokinesis? She can even create flames with her mind while Blaze cannot? She even has her mother's speed. Most likely she is the boggling of the three. I must find some way of crushing her.

"That boy Gadget is part kitsune/part alien. And they accuse me of fathering abominations? At least my creations are mechanical! She seems to share Breezy's speed where as his intelligence nearly rivals mine, but that is all I can find for now. Because he is overtly bashful and inexperienced, I may not need to worry about him either.

"And Jewels is the daughter of that red mutt and the bat. She has inherited her father's strength and boxing skills, and her mother's stealth and sex appeal. She currently works for the G.U.N. as well. She doesn't seem to be as gullible as her father, which is unfortunate. But I'll think of something. And I'm sure that the heroes have some more children around, but I have yet to find them."

After he finished his meal, Eggman Nega leaned back on his chair as he double checked his new enemies. "They're like giddy school girls, I'll give them that much! But they are all just as much thorns in my side as their parents." The screens vanished as he got up and walked over to another screen. There it showed an odd looking war head. "But at least I made something that can… lessen the playing field a bit." And he grinned menacingly.

* * *

"I win," Violet smirked as she placed a card that read 'Gogiga Gagagigo'. They had been playing a game of Duel Monsters and Zed, being ignorant as always, thought it was an easy win. He was wrong.

"Damn it!" he swore as he slammed his fist on it, making the cards go flying about the room. Violet, as well as Daisy and Eli who had been watching, shielded themselves. "That was the fifth game! Why can't I beat you, God damn it!"

"Because I know everything," Violet smile haughtily, "That means I'm smarter than you."

All Zed did was mumbled a selective choice of words as he got up and walked of. "Hm, Mr. Sunshine as always," Eli shrugged as she took his seat. "Can I play?"

"Sure. But I can't guaranty your success," Violet smirked as she nodded. "As I said, I know everything."

* * *

Let's cut back to the heroes, shall we? What you don't know is that after the trip to the G.U.N. Fortress, Violet suggested looking into the former Prison Island. After the explosion from the bombs that Eggman had rigged on the island twenty-one years ago, everything began to flourish again. However, after that incident, G.U.N. no longer used the island for one reason or another.

Breezy and her friends were currently walking through the deep jungle. They were looking around, admiring the beauty and nature of the island.

"It's almost hard to believe that this island was once a prison," Maria smiled in awe as she took the time to smell the flowers. "Everything is so beautiful here."

"You can say that again," Breezy added as she stretched her arms. "All the flowers smell so sweet here… but none sweeter than Gadget, desu!" she grinned as she winked at him to her right. Gadget just blushed at her comment.

"So there's possibility that another Chaos Emerald could be here?" Marisa asked.

"Don't know," Athena shrugged. "I can't sense anything so I don't think there could be a Chaos Emerald here. But maybe there's one more piece of the Sanphlyph. And if there is, maybe we can finally get it before those other guys do."

"Yeah, but once we do, how are we going to learn from it?" Kera questioned. "We might not be able to learn much of it unless we have the rest of the pieces, which Mephiles has."

"Then we can at least try and get them from him," Breezy commented.

"Get real!" Athena said with narrowed eyes. "That guy can use Chaos Control from ANYWHERE. I wonder why he hasn't even taken the Chaos Emerald we still have?"

"Maybe he has a few limitations to his time control powers," Larcen responded. "That or he's toying with us."

"Whatever the case is, we need to figure this all out quickly," Kera noted. She jumped down to a cliff. The others followed. She walked a few paces as she looked around before coming to a stop. "Something's wrong… it feels to quite here."

"So maybe we went to the wrong destination," Samson grimaced. "Dang!"

"No, it's not that," Maria said as her eyes darted around. "It almost feels like we are being watched. Oh Omega, can you scan the island for anything?"

"Roger, roger," the robot responded. His optics turned green as he began to analyze the island. After some short moments, his optics returned red as he looked at his companions. "I detected two large moving machines surrounding us. They are both headed in one direction."

"What?" Marisa blinked. "So we're being followed?"

"False conclusion," Omega answered. "I also detect an odd blip approximately 9 miles away from us. The two machines are moving in that very direction."

"Is it the last piece of the Sanphlyph that you detected?" Kera asked.

"False conclusion," he said again. "I do not detect the Sanphlyph at all. It is another blimp which I do not recognize."

"I see," Kera said as she placed her hands on her hips. "So then while there isn't a Chaos Emerald or a Sanphlyph here, there may be something else here that we can find."

"Maybe we can find answers to all of this," Larcen nodded. "I guess coming here wasn't a total waste after all."

"Cool. Let's go," Breezy nodded.

Strangely, there didn't seem to be any enemies appearing to stop them. Not even the Iblis Monsters or the Aqua Fiends were appearing. It was as if they were getting an easy pass, which, as you know, isn't always a good sign. Still, they decided to take their time and take it easy by walking. In such a beautiful forest like Prison Island, you wouldn't you want to slow down?

After a few minutes of walking, Omega slowed down before stopping completely. Everyone else noticed and looked at him. "What is it?" Marisa asked.

Omega turned to his left and pointed. "Over there."

Everyone turned to his direction and looked on in surprise. There they found a large metal fortress standing in the middle of the forest. It looked odd and old.

"What is that?" Breezy blinked.

"Gee, Breezy. It looks like a fortress," Kera glared with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"I can see that, desu!" she glared back.

"I can see where Breezy is going with this, though," Maria said as she walked closer to the tower. "Apparently, it would appear that there is no sign of the G.U.N. of that fortress. Also, wouldn't this tower also be among the ruins of everything else on this island?"

"So, then that would mean…" Gadget pondered.

"It was built by someone else," Larcen finished for him.

"But who?" Marisa queried.

"Whatever it may be, it seems to be the signal that Omega was picking up," Maria said. "So we should probably go have a look see."

"Agreed," Kera said as she took out her Dragon Sword. "But if it this tower was just recently constructed, there could be traps waiting for us there. But remember, time is money."

"Then its best if we be careful," Maria nodded.

The team of heroes began to walk to the fortress. But they couldn't even get close enough as a strange rumbling was heard.

"What is that?" Marisa gasped.

"Uh oh!" Breezy gulped.

The rumbling got closer as the trees behind they began to move aside, making room for something really big. As the trees cleared, they could now see what they were facing. It was a tank-like robot with orange and yellow armor. It had thick off-road wheels, strong looking arms, machine cannons and an ice gun, and a pumpkin like face. Standing on top of it were a falcon and killer whale that they could easily recognize.

"You!" Kera glared at two of the members of the Dynamite Syndicate.

"Huh, nice to see you again too," Skylark replied.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Larcen asked.

"We were searching for the remaining Chaos Emeralds when we came across this place and found an abnormal energy reading," Moana explained. "It didn't look like a Chaos Emerald, but it could be something we could use out of value." She narrowed her eyes down at the heroes. "We just never expected to run into you guys again. And after you've given us so much trouble already! Well now this time will be different!"

"And what makes you say that?" Athena demanded.

Moana smiled and replied in one of her smooth and sweet voices, "Because I've made a new weapon just for you. The Gunsaff has heavy armory and high attack power. I think you'll have a difficult time dealing with this!"

"Oh please!" Breezy said as she got into a fighting stance. "This robot will be no different from the ones we trashed up before."

"I'd like to see you try!" Moana laughed.

Before both teams could jump into the fight, another rumbling was heard, this time from the other side. As the trees of that side gave way, everyone saw another robot. It was a blue python with a deadly looking red tail. Sitting on the cockpit was none other than Snively.

"Oh no! Not you again!" Breezy yelled.

"Hehe, long time no see, toots," Snively smirked. "Did ya miss me?"

"I am not your toots!"

Skylark arched an eyebrow. "Who the hell is he?"

"I'm Snively Robotnik, bird brain," Snively shot at him. "I'm here to continue my uncle's legacy!"

"You must have detected the energy signature just like we did," Moana glared.

"Well, well, well. This is starting to turn out to be one hell of a party," Snively said smoothly, "Looks like none of us ain't leaving till we get what's in that fortress. How about we fight for it?"

"Works for me!" Moana shouted as she jumped into the cockpit.

"For me as well," Skylark said as he hoped down to face his rivals on his own.

The heroes began to press each others back, save for Marisa who had the back of her legs pressed against them; each of them was looking at their adversaries. They were trapped and they knew it all too well. "Guys, I think we got ourselves into a three way fight," Athena said uneasily.

"Yeah, looks like we don't have much of a choice in the matter," Larcen nodded. "I guess we have to fight our way out of this."

"You're speaking my mind, Larcen," Samson said as he spit out his toothpick and twirled his guns. "¡Es hora de pasar o suelto! ¡Vamos!

"Don't you go Ricky Ricardo on me!" Kera said as she prepared to fight.

"Chances of victory are ambiguous," Omega calculated. "If we face each enemy in groups, we have a high chance of survival."

"In that case, Kera and I have a score to settle with Skylark," Larcen said.

"And I've got one with Snively," Breezy frowned as she cracked her knuckles.

"And we'll deal with Moana," Athena added.

Everyone rushed at their chosen targets. Larcen and Kera went after Skylark. Breezy, Gadget, Maria and Samson ran toward the Egg Python. And Athena, Omega and Marisa were left to fight the Gunsaff.

Larcen activated his necklace's secret power and speed up to Skylark, catching the pirate commander completely off guard. The navy-blue hedgehog then proceeded to land several kicks onto the falcon before punching him some feet away. Skylark skid to a halt and looked up just in time to see Larcen racing up to him again, this time with his dagger in hand. Being wise to the middle hedgehog's enhanced speed, he leaped into the air and plumbed Larcen with a whomping cartwheel kick. The hedgehog staggered backwards, obviously hurting. Skylark grinned as he hopped back and launched himself forward in a drill attack. Larcen recovered fast enough to roll over Skylark's back and miss the attack.

As Skylark stopped himself, he saw Kera charging at him with her sword in flames. She jumped into the air and curled up into a ball in a Homing Spin fashion with her burning sword spinning around her. Skylark cartwheeled away from the attack, just as Kera landed. As she stood up, Kera got into a warrior stance and silently taunted him. Taking up the challenge, Skylark rushed in and started thrusting his daggers at Kera, who managed to either block or avoid the sais. After a moment of that, Skylark hopped back, twirled his sais and threw one of them at her face. Kera's eyes widened as the sai approached, but managed to move her face fast enough to avoid getting hit. She watched as the sai landed with the blade sinking into the ground. As she turned to face Skylark, her eyes widened again as she saw him going for her leg with the other sai knife. She quickly jumped over him and rolled away. The two stared down at each other just as Larcen caught up with Kera.

"I have to hand it to you, Skylark," Kera commended. "You're quite fast. Not as fast as Larcen or Breezy, but pretty agile."

"That's way I'm called the Sky Ninja. I aim high and strike hard," Skylark smirked as he wiped his beak and pulled out his sai, "You and you buddy there haven't lost touched since the last time we dueled."

"Thanks," Larcen said as he got into position. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes," Skylark nodded as he raised his sais.

Meanwhile, Breezy, Gadget, Maria and Samson where facing the Egg Python with mild difficulty. The Egg Python's head rushed at Maria, but she sidestepped from the attack. This left her opened for a tail sweep, but luckily she kicked the tail before came any closer. Adding injury to insult, she crouched down before curled into the Homing Spin and launching herself into the head.

"Arg! Damn!" Snively swore as his machine took some more damage.

Breezy was up next to try. She raced up to it and started to do cartwheels as she got closer. She jump up and landed a strong kick at the side of the head. After landing, she jumped up again and sent a drop kick to damage it once more.

"Hah!" Breezy laughed as she landed. "You ain't so- WOAH!" The tail grabbed her by the waist and lifted her high. Just like before, she didn't have enough strength to break free.

"Let's take a ride, baby!" Snively laughed as the Egg Python began to swing her around, destroying several more trees in the process. After the ride, she was let go and crashed into the pile of dead trees.

"Owww…" Breezy groaned as she slowly sat up. Her clothing was starting to look beat up. "That hurt."

"Senorita Breezy!" Samson shouted as he aimed his guns. "Take a break! We'll handle things from here!"

"Yeah, he won't get away with this!" Gadget shouted. He was looking clearly upset now. After what he did and tried to do with Breezy, he had enough. He didn't seem to notice an aura of electromagnetic energy appearing around him. As he raced up in a sparking green blur, he jumped up and came down in a Spin Attack. It caused major damage as the inherited electromagnetic power screwed up the controls.

"Double damn it!" Snively shouted as the machine began to shake.

Gadget landed as he looked on at what he did in awe. "Did I do that?" he gasped.

"Yep, you did," Samson said as he walked next to him and ruffled his head. "Now it's my turn." He pointed his gun and fired several rounds of explosive energy, making some more damage. The Egg Python was thrown backwards and crashed.

Despite the massive damage it was given, the Egg Python still slithered back up. "I'm not finished yet!" Snively panted.

"Man, he's so annoying," Samson frowned as he Maria and Breezy walked next to them.

"Yeah, really," Maria nodded. "We'd better hurry it up."

As for Athena, Omega and Marisa, they were having a bit of trouble with the Gunstaff. Moana defiantly wasn't lying about the machine having a thick armor. Their flame attacks couldn't melt it but at least they could do something about the ice attacks it sent out.

"We have to find some kind of weak spot for this thing!" Athena yelled as she managed to move away from the machine gun. "Omega, analyze it!"

"Affirmative!" Omega said as he eyes switched to Analysis Mode. After some short moments, his optics returned to red as he reported the information. "Destroying the wheels will cause the machine to malfunction."

"Excellent!" Marisa grinned as she fired several blasts of lighting at the wheels. The wheels themselves were made of rubber, which blocked the electricity, but some of it still reached the metal. This made the wheels loosen up and the Gunstaff wobble.

"Hey! W-what the?" Moana gasped. As she looked at the readout, she saw that the problem originated from the wheels. "Not another drawback!"

"Now Athena!" Marisa shouted.

"Got it!" the Psycho Solider nodded. She cupped her hands together and formed her ball of fire and energy. _"Fire Psycho Bomb!" _She threw out her bomb at the bottom of the machine and it exploded. The heat and energy of the explosion of attack made the wheels become completely loose and roll the machine forward, prompting the trio to get out of the way. Moana started screaming as she ended up going into another battle: the one involving Breezy, Gadget, Maria and Samson with the Egg Python. The four manage to get out of the way as well, but Snively saw her too late. Both machines collided and erupted in an explosion so huge, it made Larcen, Kera and Skylark pause in their fight to see what just happened.

After the explosion subsided, Maria signaled Breezy. "See what's in that fortress!" Breezy gave her the thumbs up and raced inside.

"Oh no, you don't!" Skylark yelled as he tried to take chase, but Larcen grabbed him by the collar and threw him back.

"Where do you think you're running off to?" Larcen frowned.

"We are not done yet," Kera added.

Skylark growled as he bared his sais.

* * *

When Breezy got inside the fortress, she found that it was all dark… and empty.

"Wait… what?" Breezy blinked as she looked around. "There's nothing here! That can't be right! Unless it was a…" Suddenly, she noticed some red dots of light appearing all over her body. Now she realized what was going on.

"…A trap."

**"ID Registration: Breezy the Hedgehog. Confirmed. Initiate rocket sequence."**

Her ears twitched as she heard a noise, turning around. She saw the door closing in on her. "DESU!" She raced up to try and catch it, but was stopped by a metal wall that appeared in front of her. More walls appeared, surrounding her and preventing her from escaping.

She was trapped.

* * *

The fortress before them began to break apart and take a new form. It was a black and yellow missile that looked like a thin rocket. And inside that rocket was Breezy, screaming in panic while banging on the glass cell. It was too tough for her to break.

"Oh my God! Breezy!" Maria screamed.

"Senorita Breezy!" Samson yelled in shock.

"How did this happen?" Gadget gaped.

They all got their answers when an evil laughter cut through the air.

"Geehehehehehehehehe!" the laugh echoed as a large hovercraft descended before them. Inside was a face that the heroes had seen before.

"Eggman Nega?" they all gasped. Snively and Moana had managed to climb out of the trash heap just as they heard his name.

"Eggman… Nega…?" he wondered as he arched an eyebrow.

"Ah, my dear friends!" Eggman Nega said. "It's been a long time!"

"So it was you who lured all of us to this island?" Kera gawked.

"Ahahaha… you were all so predictable," Eggman Nega said darkly. "Here I find that you were on a little treasure hunt to find your parents and I discovered a way to get all of you here all together." He then noticed Skylark, Moana and Snively. "And your rivals fell for it too. Very nice."

'He looks a lot like my uncle!' Snively thought to himself.

"What are you trying to do with that rocket?" Larcen demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Eggman Nega said as he typed in some commands on his keyboard. A holograph screen appeared before them, showing a 3D simulation map. "I'm going to us this rocket to do what that idiot great-great grandfather of mine was unable to do before: destroy Station Square! And with Sonic's beloved daughter trapped inside of it, she will die with everyone else! Like literary killing two birds with one stone!"

"What? No!" Gadget screamed.

"But why?" Athena yelled. "What does this have to do with world domination?"

"Don't you get it?" Eggman Nega growled as he aimed a remote at the rocket. "I'm not focusing on world domination right now. Every time I do, your parents are always in my way, my dear! The final straw was during my attempt to bring for the Ifirt, which they utterly destroyed! And to add insult to injure, they left me in the Chaotic Inferno for so long! I didn't like, I didn't like it at all! All I care about now is REVENGE!" He pressed the button, signaling the rocket to launch with the steam erupting from the boosters. Breezy screamed louder and began to cry as the rocket began to fly into the air.

"NO! Breezy!" Gadget yelled as he flew up to the rocket and latched himself onto it.

"Gadget!" Marisa screamed as the rocket vanished into the sky.

"Oh no…" Kera whispered.

"Ahahahaha! So that double tailed mutt's son joins her!" Eggman Nega sneered evilly. "At least they will be together in death! Gawhahahahaha!"

"You won't get away with this!" Larcen shouted hotly. "One way or another, we'll make you pay!

"I'd like to see you try!" Eggman Nega laughed, "Adieu, adieu! We shall see more of each other my friends!" Eggman Nega continued to laugh as his Nega Mobile rose up and vanished into the air.

"I'm outta here!" Snively shouted as he hoped into his Egg Mobile II and flew off.

"Wow, what a retard," Athena frowned.

"That egg-shaped, conniving, shrewd, son-ov-a-female dog!" Kera raged in cold fury. As she continued ranting, her voice turned more dark and savage, and her eyes glowed blood red. "I can't believe he'd _do something like that! Even Eggman would never take an innocent life whenever he pleases! How dare he! One way or another, I'll make him pay the devil's due! Even if I have to chase him to the nine circles of Hell, I won't let this stand!"_

Everyone noticed the powerful dark aura being emitted from her body. Her eyes were solid red and her teeth turned into long fangs. She was breathing heavily, as if she were hyperventilating. "Kera? Kera!" Maria called. "What's the matter! Calm down!"

_"Huh?"_ Kera blinked as the aura vanished and she returned to normal, _"S…sorry_ about that. I must have lost myself for a moment."

"I'm so sorry…" Maria stammered as her blue eyes began to water. "If only I hadn't told Breezy to look inside that tower… she can't even use Chaos Control without a Chaos Emerald! And now she and Gadget are gone and it's my entire fault!" She slumped to her knees and began sobbing her heart out.

"No, it's not," Kera smiled softly as she walked up and placed her hand on Maria's head, prompting her to look up with puffy eyes. "This is Eggman Nega's doing. He was using us, understand? But we can still try to stop the missile before it hits Station Square. And then, we'll make sure he doesn't try something like this again."

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up!" Marisa added as she ran up to them. "We can use the X-Tornado to stop the missile and save Breezy and Gadget!"

Maria rubbed her eyes and slowly stood up. "Right… we still have time after all," she smiled slowly.

"That's the spirit!" Larcen smiled. "No time to waste! Let's move!"

As the team of heroes raced to get their plane, Skylark and Moana were the ones left, both stunned at what just happened. Slowly, Skylark managed to regain his composure. "We'd better get going," he said as he went to leave.

"But boss!" Moana sputtered. "What about the missile? I know we're pirates but not even we'd go that far!"

"I wouldn't worry about it," he said as he turned to face her. "If that girl really is that blue hedgehog's kid, she and her friend will make out alive without fail."

Moana was silent for a while as she thought about it, but then slowly nodded. "Alright."

The two of them walked off to their waiting ship.

* * *

Over the skies of the Dusty Desert, the Nega Rocket was striking towards the target at alarming speeds. Inside, Breezy was still crying about her imamate death, sticking herself in a fetal position.

'I'm gonna die…' she thought to herself tearfully, 'I can't believe I'm gonna die. I just wanted to find my mom and dad…'

A metallic noise caught her attention as she looked up from her cell. Much to her shock, she found Gadget holding on to the rocket right over her. "Gadget?" she gasped in surprise.

"Breezy!" he smiled. "Don't worry! I'm gonna get you out!"

"But how?" Breezy asked. "You know how to do it?"

"All I need to do is disarm the missile. That way I can stop its crash course for Station Square and get you out. I just need to find two panels and take out the circuits."

"Alright… hurry!"

"Count on me!" he said as he began to climb to the top of the Nega Rocket. The harsh gale was making it difficult to get there, but he kept his fangs gritted as he continued. Finally, he made it to the first panel. Slowly, he rose up his hand at the sides. It began to flicker with light for a few moments. It started to glow brightly before it suddenly went out.

"Come on, come on!" Gadget shouted as he shook his hand. Finally, solar energy shot out and he began to burn the sides of the panel, slowly but surely. After all the sides were fired, the cover flew off. Gadget managed to move his face quick enough to watch it fly. Then he grabbed the circuits and ripped them off. This made some guards open up, making the Nega Rocket slow down a little.

"Alright! Now for the last one!" Gadget smiled as he hopped to his left and slid down to the next panel. He repeated the process and ripped the circuit out. Another pair of guards opened and the Nega Rocket slowed down some more. Gadget sighed in relief… but then the bottom portion of the rocket that held the guards busted and the rocket started to accelerate faster.

"What?" Gadget gasped.

"Gadget? What happened?"

"The rocket's accelerating! I need to find another way!... I know!" He began to making his away back to the top. The gale started to grown stronger making him hold on tighter. Once it passed, he continued on his way. There he found a switch. He gripped it with both hands and tried to pull it. It was very tough, but he had to do it. He had to stop the rocket. At last, it opened up and he pulled it down. As he predicted, he nozzle of the rocket broke off, causing it to fall. Now he needs to get her out.

He made his way back to her cell as what was left of the Egg Rocket fell into the dessert. As he got there, he faced her face to face. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"

"I can't…" she sobbed again. "I can't get out!"

"Come on, Breezy… we gotta…" Gadget whispered. Breezy slowly reached out to the cell to place her hand on his. Purple flashed with green and their powers intertwined. Suddenly, the cell vanished, causing both of them to fall into the dessert, leaving the rocket behind them.

"Gadget! You have to fly!"

"I'll… I'll try!" Gadget managed to grab Breezy bridle style and twirled his three tails fast, slowing their fall. Breezy held tight to Gadget's neck as they glided to the sands. As they landed, they watched as the rocket crashed into the earth. Gadget set Breezy on her feet and the two looked at each other dreamily.

"Gadget… you saved me…" Breezy smiled loving at him. "Thank you."

"I guess…. I did…" Gadget smiled back. Suddenly, he swayed and fainted. Breezy caught him fast enough and held him to her chest. She just smiled as she held him close and stroked his head.

"Oh man, you really pushed yourself, didn't you?" Breezy giggled, "You must really be getting stronger. I'm so happy, Gadget," she whispered, holding him tighter. Nearby, the X-Tornado landed. The passengers ran up to the duo to see if they were alright. "Hey! Over here!" Breezy waved to get their attention.

"BREEZY! GADGET!" Maria and Athena cried as they zipped up to them and grabbed them both in a crushing hug. "You're alright! You're alright!"

"Hey, hey! I gotta get some breathing room!" Breezy panted as she got crunched in the middle.

Maria and Athena both blinked; then saw that they put Breezy and the bundle in her arms in an uncomfortable position. Quickly, they let go. "Whoops! Sorry!" Athena apologized.

The rest of the gang soon caught up with them. "How's the kid?" Kera asked she brushed her fingers on Gadget's fur.

"He's alright," Breezy smiled. "He really saved my life. I owe him."

"More like he owed you. After all the times he helped him with his troubles," Athena pointed out. "Still… he sure went all out, didn't he?"

"I shouldn't have let you gone alone," Maria said sadly. "None of this would have happened." 

"Don't worry about," Breezy said to her. "Everything's cool now. Let's just go home. I think we could use a break."

"Yeah, let's go," Marisa nodded. Maria nodded also and slipped a kiss on Gadget's forehead. Everyone headed back to X-Tornado.

* * *

As soon as they got back, Breezy had little time to explain to Daisy and Violet and just wanted to get her savor somewhere to rest, so everyone did it for her. She carried Gadget to her room, removed his sneakers and set him on her bed. She sat down close to him, gentle caressing his face and neck as she watched him rest.

She's never really said this to anyone before, and may not have to, but Breezy is madly in love with Gadget. She always has been, and almost made no secret of it. For a long time now she always had dreams of the wedding together. And after the wedding, on their honeymoon, she would throw him on the bed and kiss him over and over while whispering, "I love you, I love you, I love you…" Just for him. She was thinking already what their children would be like.

Slowly, she felt Gadget begin to stir. She watched as he opened his eyes and saw her. "Breezy?"

"What's up?" she smiled at him. "You feel alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he nodded slowly. "What about you?"

"Same here little buddy," Breezy said before she kicked off her sneakers and slowly climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. "You saved my life. You're my hero, you know that?" she told him, rubbing her left hand up his shoulder, and toying with her necklace with her right.

"I… I am?" he asked as he began to blush.

"Mm hmmm," she nodded with a sweet smile as she noticed him blush.

"I-I thought I was going to lose you. I couldn't let that happen. You're my best friend. And I…" his voice began to get caught in his throat as he lost his words. A grin tugged on Breezy's lips as she had a feeling about what he wanted to say, and she decided to give him a small token of her gratitude. She laid herself gently on top of him, her forearms supporting herself, making their faces teasingly closer. Before Gadget could say anything, she bent her head down and kissed him lightly on the cheek, making him blush very deeply. This wasn't her usual playful, teasing kisses, this kiss felt soft and loving. Then she kissed again. And again. And again. Her lips trailed down from his cheek to his neck and continuing to kiss him there. After a while she moved back up, to his ears, and whispered something into his ears…

"Vous êtes un cuite si doux…"

"Huh?" Gadget blinked as he looked at her. "Since when could you speak French?"

"Mom's been teaching me how to sweet talk in French," Breezy giggled as she moved away from his ear to face him. "I only know the basics though."

"Wow," Gadget nodded. "You sound different in French."

"And I gotta say, Gadget, I really like kissing you," Breezy smiled warmly.

"Uh…" he blushed again as he looked away again.

"So Gadget, we're gonna have the day off tomorrow. How about it?" she smiled at him as she fumbled with his ears.

"I'd like that," he nodded, looking back up at her.

Breezy smiled as she got off him and off the bed. Gadget sat up and looked after her. "Cool. I'm gonna go take a shower now." She started to walk to her door, and then casted her gaze over her shoulder. "You want one too?"

"What?" Gadget stuttered, eyes wide.

Breezy simply snickered as she turned around. "I meant if I should save the hot water for you in case you wanted a shower."

Gadget blinked, his red fur returning to the normal shade of emerald. "Oh… yeah, save some for me too," Gadget nodded.

"Will do," she winked before walking out.

Gadget made a sigh as some red remained on his face. He looked back at the door with a shy smile. "Man, she's something else."


	18. One Step Forward

**Ch 18: One Step Forward  
**

"Come on Alex!" Zed shouted at the TV as he watched a Street Fighter match, "Kick his ass already!"

"Alex will lose," Violet said as she flipped through the pages of her book.

"What?" Zed frowned at her, turning her attention from the television for the moment, "He's never lost a match since his debut and he's undefeated. What do you know about the Street Fighters Tournament anyway? You just found out about it while flipping through the tube just yesterday!"

"I know everything," she boasted.

Zed frowned as she used that catchphrase of hers again. She just got lucky last time; no way could she be right about this one! As he turned back to the television, he saw to his shock that not only did Alex lose, but it was a flawless victory for that Chinese kid with the blue baseball cap! Despite his disappointment, Zed was more shocked that Violet had predicted the outcome so perfectly. "How?"

"Just as I said," she grinned in a fanged smile, "I know everything."

* * *

"Come on, come on!" Breezy giggled with glee as she raced into Soleanna as she dragged Gadget along with her.

"Whoa, slow down!" Gadget said as he glided in her hand and through the air. "Is there reason why you're so giggly and happy today? Other than this being our day off?"

"Oh you," Breezy smiled as she faced him. "Maria told me about this costume shop here in Soleanna and I just had to see it for myself!"

"Cosplay again, huh?"

"You know it, desu!" the ever perky hedgehog said excitedly. "You know I just love dressing in costumes! You're gonna help me see what I like, right?"

"Of course I will," Gadget answered with a small smile.

Breezy giggled giddily as she continued on her way. She began to grin as they reached Blancmanche Cosplay City. "Alright, we're here!" she smiled as she skid to a halt and went inside. They instantly greeted by the half-breed owner.

"Hey there!" Ms Blancmanche greeted as she saw them come in. "What can I do you for?"

"A friend of mine said that this is a neat cosplay shop," Breezy told her. "Can I see some of your costumes?"

"Oh your echidna friend!" Mint smiled as she remembered. "She told me that you might come here one day. Well I think I have some costumes that you may like."

"Thanks!" she smiled. She then turned to Gadget and said, "You wait here while I go and try one costumes. You won't be bored will you?"

"I'll be fine," he smiled as he sat on the bench.

First five minutes…

"Hey, are you ready for this?" Breezy called as she walked back in. Gadget turned to see her and saw that she was now dressed up as the famous cyber-idol Hatsune Miku. She wore the trademark blue vest with tie along with the black skirt, moveable sleeves and boots. She had had the headphones and put her quills in two ponytails. "What do you think? Do I look cute in this?" Breezy giggled as she twirled around.

Gadget could help but blush. "Wow, it is really cute."

Breezy giggled again. "Good, just a few more," she said as she went back to the dressing room.

Second five minutes…

"Alright, how about this?" Breezy said as she came back with a different costume. Now she was wearing a sailor fuku. It was blue in color had a red tie. She also wore black stockings with black shoes.

"You look really good in a uniform. Wonder what Queen, Elisabeth and Kotonoha would say."

"Yeah, me too," she smiled cheerfully, "Just a little more Gadget."

Another five minutes…

"This one looks pretty, don't you think?" Breezy came back into the room now wearing something even more beautiful. She had on a silk pink dress that stopped by her thigh. It was decorated in red ribbons. She also had on long white gloves and white boots.

"That one looks very creative."

"You must be getting bored by now Gadget," Breezy smiled. "Don't worry. There's just one more I wanna show you."

Last five minutes…

"Alright Gadget, last one!" Breezy called over. It was a typical cheerleader outfit she was wearing. Blue and white with blue sneakers. No pom-poms. Still, she could look any cuter. Gadget couldn't help but laugh a bit.

Breezy smiled as she walked over and took him by the hand. "Well, I can see you like it. Come on, let's go up to the roof. It has a nice view of the city."

Gadget just nodded, still stunned by her dress. Breezy took him to some separate stairs and they went up to the roof. The roof was a miniature garden, with plants and trees surrounding the area. It even offered a great view of the city. They could even see the castle.

"See? Isn't it awesome?" Breezy smiled as she pointed at the site.

"Yeah, the view looks great!" Gadget nodded.

Breezy slowly sat down on the soft grass and slowly coaxed Gadget to sit with her by patting on her side. "So what are you standing for? Come sit with me."

Gadget's face went red again, but he nodded and sat down next to Breezy. His face was still a bit red, seeing how cute she was in the dress. The hedgehog couldn't help but grin. She always had this affect on him. She decided to have some fun with him again. She placed her hand over his shoulder and under his chin and began to scratch gently, and then she rubbed his shoulder tenderly, making him calm down a bit. She knew some of the sensitive buttons that he had, and she knew just where and when to push them. Gently, she moved his head to her lap as he closed his eyes and relaxed some more as she began to massage his neck and fingered his earlobe. He always enjoyed that feeling. The two sat in silence, enjoying one another's company.

"I really love being alone with you like this," Breezy said merrily, "It just feels really good to me."

"Hmm… yeah, it feels nice," Gadget smiled, not opening his eyes.

"Remember that night on Halloween when we were like this?" Breezy smiled. "We were dancing together and sat under the big oak tree while we had our sweets and we looked at the stars. Remember?"

_Three years ago…_

_It was a Halloween party at Twinkle Park and all the youths of Station Square were there. Everyone was dancing to the music and having a good time. All but one though._

_Eight year old Milo Prower was all alone, sitting on a bench. He was dressed up in a sleeveless white shirt with orange flames on the bottom, white pants and, red boots that were dangling freely. He also had an orange belt tied to his waist. This gave him the appearance of a ninja. _

_Gadget sighed as he looked on the party. No one had asked to him if he wanted to join, and mostly likely never will. He was always the odd ball black sheep with his three tails and alien origins. Everyone always found him weird. Well, not everyone. _

_He felt a tap on his shoulder, coaxing him to turn around. There was his best friend, Breezy, also dressed in a costume. She was dressed up as a Lolita vampire princess, wearing a gothic dress with her skirt stopping at her thighs, black garter stockings with spider-web stitching, moveable sleeves and black shoes. She also had purple roses on her arms, ankles and quills. Two strips of black cloth with gold on the edges fell from her back like a cape and a pair extended from her belt like a trench coat would. "Hey, Gadget. Why sit here alone?" she asked him. _

_"Oh, uh I w-wasn't asked to dance," he said, downcast. _

_"What? A cute little squirt like you?" Breezy said as she sat down next to him. "Well, I guess we're in the same boat 'cause I don't have a date either."_

_"Really?" Gadget asked as he looked at her in surprise. "But you're so… so… pretty!" His face went red as he used the word "pretty". "Why wouldn't anyone ask you?"_

_"Well… I was asked by some guys. But they were a bunch of jerks in my opinion," Breezy sighed in disgust._

_"Oh…"_

_"And well… I wanted to ask you to dance with me anyway," she added as she got her smile back._

_"Me?" he blushed tensely._

_"Come on, Gadget! It'll be fun!" she giggled as she stood up and pulled his arm, making him stand up. The two went to the flashing dance floor, though by the time the got there, a slow song began to play. Gadget noticed that and began to shuffle awkwardly while Breezy also blushed and made small circles with her right shoe. Still, she was the bolder one. She took his hands and placed one on her shoulder and wrapped the other around her waist. Gadget tensed at the contact. _

_"Gadget," she said, wrapping her hands around his neck, "Relax alright? It's okay…I'll lead."_

_He could feel her begin to move and struggled to keep up with the steps, to which Breezy chuckled in amusement. He kept his eyes on his feet so that he wouldn't step on her. "Sorry… I-I'm not u-used to this," he admitted timidly._

_"Don't worry," she said as she pulled him slightly closer. "Just let the flows of the music lead you." _

_Gadget simply nodded as they continued to dance together._

_After the dance, the pair went to sit under one of the tall trees to look at the night sky. Gadget was sitting against the tree while Breezy was in front of him. Next to them were their bags for treats. Some of the candies were already eaten._

_"You were a really good dancer buddy," Breezy smiled. _

_"Thanks…" Gadget smiled back. "You were really good too."_

_"You know, we really have to do this more often."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yep," she grinned wryly. "I had a lot of fun."_

_"Me too!"_

_Breezy continued to grin as she slipped a playful kiss on his cheek. Once again, his face was red. Breezy was really amused with how Gadget could become so easily embarrassed. "It's kinda stupid how people don't like you just because of your tails. If people get to know like I do, they wouldn't pick on you all the time."  
_

_"Yeah, if only it were that easy," Gadget sighed.  
_

_"If only," Breezy repeated, shimmying herself next to him. "But at least you got me, your sisters, Maria, Athena and Jewels, right? Can't be all too bad."  
_

_"It can't," Gadget nodded as she put her arm around him. "I'm glad we're friends.  
_

_"Me too," Breezy giggled as she reached into the bag and offered a lollipop, "Choco-pop?"_

_End of Flashback…_

"Yeah, I remember that time," he smiled up at her; "We had a lot of fun, didn't we?"

"We sure did," she smiled back. She stood up and helped Gadget onto his feet. "Let's go and pay for these and get back."

"Okay."

* * *

"Uh… I'm sorry. What?" Athena asked Kera. Both of them were standing in the front yard of the house.

"I need you to use your psychic attacks on me," Kera repeated, placing a blindfold over her golden eyes. "Normal, I do this alone, but with your help, I can sense attacks coming more affectively. Don't you do this in your Kung Fu training?"

"Well, my training styles are a bit different from yours. But I'll help you I guess," Athena sighed, her eyes closing.

"Good," Kera said, raising her sword in front. "Now come at me when you're ready."

After a moment of pause, Athena's eyes opened and flashed. Two balls of psychic energy appeared on both sides of her and flew at Kera at fast speeds. The swordswoman twisted and sent to slashes into the air. The balls went past her before slowly coming to a stop. Both opened in two halves and vanished. Athena's arms stretched out as she summoned more psychic energy balls. As Kera sensed them coming, she swung her sword around with grace and precision, each blow accurately slicing each ball in two. Athena levitated and crossed her arms in front of her face as she started to summon balls of fire around her before sending them into the air. Kera jumped after them and swung her blade around with Ki flying out. All of the flames around her vanished instantly. She landed, slowly stood up and removed her blindfold. "Well now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she smiled as she replaced her sword on her back.

"I guess not," Athena smiled back as she levitated in a relaxed position. "Hey, Kera. Can I ask you something?"

Kera sat down in an Indian position before nodding. "Shoot."

"That sword of yours looks pretty ancient, and yet it's very strong. How'd you get it?"

"My Dragon Sword?" she asked as she pointed to the hilt. "It is said that who ever wilds it can use the power of various dragons." Her expiration began to cloud. "My father… he told me legends of a powerful hero who used the Dragon Sword to defeat a powerful beast known as the Black Dragon."

"Is that why you wanted to become a swordfighter?" Athena asked.

"No…" Kera shock her head. "It is because I wanted to be like my dad, whom was also a swordsman."

"Oh, I see," Athena nodded. "So, what does your dad do now?"

Her face tuned into a sad look, "He's gone."

"Gone? I'm sorry," Athena frowned. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright. Basically put, we were attacked about a year ago. Many people were killed, including my mom and dad. Now because of that, I'll never surpass him."

"I'm sure you're dad will be proud of you right now," Athena reassured.

"I know," Kera nodded.

"So… you have no family left?" Athena asked warily.

"Not quite. After I found the Dragon Sword, I decided to travel the world a bit. About a year later, I eventually ran into my brother, Yamkir."

"What's he like?"

"He's a red hedgehog. A bit shorter than I am. I found him in an EX-Gear Grand Prix race and I can't say I approve of what he's doing." Her eyes narrowed. "Somehow, he's become egotistic and air headed. He seems to be doing it for the money. He isn't the same brother I once knew."

"Hey hang on a sec," Athena began as she sat down. "I don't know about your brother but I'm sure he has his reasons for doing whatever he's doing. Jewels has a brother of her own and the two tend to fight a lot. But at the end of the day, they're still bother and sister through thick and thin. Those two always have one another's back. You and Yamkir should do the same."

"Hmm… I'll take that to heart," Kera smiled as she stood up.

"Ah, it ain't no thang," Athena chuckled as she sprung back to her feet. "This is some trip we've been having huh? I mean, so much has happened in only a few days."

"Yes it has," Kera nodded, standing up for a stretch. "I'm pretty glad we met you guys. I wonder what else is in store for us?"

Soon, a huge dust cloud appeared in the distance and approached the house at fast speeds.

"I'd recognize that cloud anywhere," Athena grinned, showing her braced fangs. And she was right too. After whatever it was that stopped, the dust cloud stopped as well, until it started to reveal two figures standing in the cloud. Once the cloud withered away, the two figures, Breezy and Gadget, coughed and hacked as they swatted the dust out of their faces. Both looked pretty dirty.

"Oh man! Maybe I shouldn't have taken Sand Ruins as a shortcut!" Breezy coughed.

"It might have been better if you ran a bit smoothly," Gadget pointed out hoarsely.

"Yeah. Really…!"

"So you two had fun?" Kera said humorously.

"Uh huh!" Gadget smiled cheerfully.

"You got all your stuff?" Athena asked.

"Sure do!" Breezy said as she held up a bag of newly acquired costumes. She noticed some movement at the corner of her eye and saw Larcen walking back to the house.

"Hey, Larcen," Kera said. "Where have you been?"

"I was out for little while. And I've got something," he said, taking out a small disk from his pocket.

"What's that?" Breezy asked. "A Green-Light disk?"

"I bumped into a guy in a black trench coat," Larcen continued, "I went to call him over, but he just kept walking. I don't know what kind of problems he had for not being able to hear me."

"So you want to see what's in it?" Gadget asked, "That's invasion of privacy you know."

"You're right, but... I just want to have a look see."

* * *

Breezy turned the Green Light player on her TV on and placed in the disk. Instantly, the movie began to play. And… it was nothing anyone expected.

**_THE EMPIRE'S CENTER RECOMMENDS!_**

**_MAN'S ENEMY A.K.A. THE EMPIRE'S ENEMY!_**

The commercial starts displaying an army of inhuman, female-looking monsters charging at men in soldier uniforms. The men, though afraid attempted to fight back with their guns. The shots just bounced off the monsters before they leapt into the air, pounced on the men and began to feast on their flesh. Luckily, that part was censored.

_"Women are all monsters and once men were their play things. They ate our forefather's innards and sucked them dry of all life."_

**_DESTRUCTION!_**

**_OPPRESSION!_**

_"Over the years they have repeatedly pillaged and plundered our cities, they have forced hard labor to oppress us cruelly."_

The next scene showed an aircraft over an unknown country, which looked pretty bleak, before moving to a graveyard and then to a hospital full of wounded and bandaged men quaking in fear. All of them looked as though they had just stared Death itself in the face and barely made escaped just before the Reaper could plunge his deadly blade into them.

_"That unspeakable horror is about to attack our empire once again. These are the shape of our bloodthirsty enemy and the symbol of our dear comrade's sacrifices. Even those who miraculously survive are left horribly scarred after their encounters with women."_

Everyone looked at the film in shock. They couldn't believe what they were seeing in front of them. Breezy and Athena's mouths were so wide, birds would be making their nests in there. Violet and Kera's eyes were as wide as plates. Maria, Daisy, Marisa and Eli looked like they were going to get very upset. The boys, Zed included, just gaped at the propaganda before them.

"Oh… my… God…." Breezy gasped.

"Wh… what is this?" Kera gawked. "They're portraying us women as bloodthirsty fiends!"

"Who would do such a thing?" Eli asked as a few tears started coming out of her eyes. She suddenly felt much violated at the knowledge that people would portray women in such a way.

"Whoever did this needs a MAJOR wake up call," Larcen growled.

_"But the time has finally come to repay them for those long years of humiliation, oppression, and degradation!"_

The film shifted to a balding man with a moustache, _"My brothers and sons, it will be only a matter of time before women will once again bring doom down on our unsuspecting heads! We must prepare for the inevitable before it is too late! Join us: the proud Taraak pirate army! The safe haven for all men alike! I am Captain Grand Pa! Together, we shall clench our collected fists of justice and crush our horrible nemesis, women!"_

The screen faded out as the sounds of cheering men rained from the speakers. In the black came the words,_ **"TARAAK PIRATES. FREEDOM FOR ALL MAN KIND."**_

"It was propaganda to recruit more pirates!" Athena gasped as the film ended. "And these aren't pirates, they're He-Man Woman Haters!"

"What could have happened to make them think like that?" Marisa grimaced.

"It's… hard to say," Violet said slowly. "It's the kind of propaganda that tries to install fear and distrust into weak minded men. It's happened many times before. But let's forget about that. Look at what I found." She tossed down a newspaper for all of them to see. Breezy picked it up and read it.

"A Zero Gravity EX-Gear race in Casino Park?" Breezy asked. "First prize is a Chaos Emerald?"

"A Chaos Emerald?" Kera wondered with an arched eyebrow.

"Free refreshments and girls get in free before midnight!" Breezy smiled, her cheerful demeanor returning. "Wow!"

"That sounds really neat," Marisa grinned.

"Yeah! It sounds like fun!" Eli chirped.

"So there's another Chaos Emerald this time, eh?" Maria thought out loud. "Well, shall we go?"

"You know I'm into this!" Breezy smirked.

"I can do it," Gadget nodded shyly.

"Hm, no doubt," Violet nodded. "But don't forget. If there's anything that involves EX-Gears, THEY'LL be close behind."

"They?" Larcen pondered.

"Well… you'll know when you see them," Violet told him with a slight frown. "I do believe we still have your gears so we can leave shortly. Oh, and one other thing. Breezy? Gadget?"

"Yes?" both of them responded in unison.

"Please for the love of God, take a bath," she muttered as she covered her flowers. "You stink."

* * *

Within the dark confines of the Mephiles' hideout, Darcy and Rothion stood in front of a number of monitors that each held an image of one of the heroes that were causing them trouble so far. However, most of those images showed the Blue Phantom. Mephiles stood before his two servants, arms crossed and his glare stern.

"Well?" their leader asked. "Do you know anything about this Blue Phantom?"

"None at all, unfortunately," Rothion said halfheartedly, "As far as we known, he can somehow manipulate fire and kinetic energy. He does so by using the roses he carries with him."

"We haven't been able to see what else he was capable of, however," Darcy continued. "His fighting style was very swift, though. He moved almost like that hedgehog."

Mephiles continued to stare at his wards before looking up at the screens. As he watched Darcy's fight with the Phantom, he saw the roses that were thrown glowing, and then exploding in blinding light. He was already informed about that, but somehow, it made his eyes widen.

"That power… where have I seen it before…?" he whispered.

"What was that?" Darcy asked.

"It's… nothing… nothing at all…" Mephiles reassured as he shook his head. "It appears that somehow this Blue Phantom is on to us. He seems to have an idea about what we are doing and he is sending them hints on where we will strike next. So, the next time he appears…"

"Yes, my lord," Rothion bowed. "We will see to it that the Blue Phantom does not live to see another day."

"Good," Mephiles said in approval. "In the meantime, my spies have informed me of a 'Zero Gravity EX Grand Prix.' There is another Chaos Emerald being held as a prize."

"And you want us to go and cause trouble while taking the Emerald with us?" Darcy guessed.

"No…" the manipulative demon hedgehog said slowly, "I need you both to stay here and rest for now. I do not want you to waste yourselves. I will go and take the Chaos Emerald myself."

"You sir?" Rothion blinked.

An invisible grin formed on Mephiles' face. "It's been a long time since I had any action. And besides… I think it's time those children finally meet their 'Uncle' Mephiles…"

* * *

"You haven't gotten the money yet?" a shapely tan woman that appeared to be some kind supermodel scolded. She was called Buzam, or BC since her real name was hard to pronounce, "That's the problem with you men, it's bad enough that you're weak and uncool, but also so lazy."

"We've had some interference," Skylark said, trying to explain, "It's these kids, we keep having run-ins with them and-"

"Children?" BC arched a silver-blond eyebrow, "That's got to be the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Never mind, we will give a few more days to get the money. If you don't by them…" she signed out with the screen vanishing with a wink, not brothering to finish. The threat was clear and draconic anyway.

"Damn…" Skylark snarled, rubbing the bridge of his beak as he turned away, "Now what? How can I get the money now?"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," a new voice said from the reactivated.

"Hm?" Skylark wondered as he turned back. His eyes widened as he saw who it was this time. "YOU?"

Eggman Nega grinned from the screen. "Captain Skylark, I have a proposition for you…"


	19. Race To the Finish

**Ch 19: Race To the Finish  
**

Casino Park. A place of gamble and entertainment. A lot of people come here to earn some quick cash. It's a real shame that most of them tend to press their luck at times.

Breezy and her friends, all of them, were going through the park, trying to find the arena. Violet was in front of them with her face covered up by a book. She had been reading since they left they house. Despite her bookwormish exterior, she hadn't looked up from the book once, and had yet to bump into anything and had kept up every step of the way. Breezy was now dressed in a red and white jersey with removable red sleeves and a black undershirt, a new pair of matching jeans with a black belt supporting it and red buckle-on shoes. She still wore her trademark legwarmers and had blue shades on her head. Gadget, who was being carried in Eli's arms, had on a pair of yellow goggles, a green scarf, and a different pair of blue sneakers. Breezy had in her hands a purple board with blue highlights which she called the Wild Dream. Carried by Daisy was Gadget's board, green and white in color. Its name was the Lighting Thief.

"Have you seen an EX Grand Prix once?" Gadget asked Eli as he looked up at her.

"I did once," the perky princess smiled. "My mom and dad took me and my aunt there to see the race. It was really fun to watch! I didn't know people could do that while going super fast!"

"Why did I have to get the chicken pox that day?..." Zed muttered to himself.

"I hear that the added more conditions and obstacles from the last few games," Athena said. "Even the courses change often so that the races can be more unique. I bet it's down so competitors can step up their game."

"That makes a lot of sense," Marisa agreed. "It always seems to be boring with the same kind of races over and over. It's a good thing that the Racing Committee is trying to make it more fun and thrilling. By the way, you look really good in that outfit."

Athena looked down at her new attire. She now had on a red, blue and white shirt with gold cross design and a blue orb in the middle. She also had a red mini skirt with blue shorts underneath. A brown belt supported it. Finally, she had on purple sneakers with yellow laces to top it off. She even let her long hair down and placed stars in it. She still kept her favorite gloves on, though.

"You really think so?" Athena smiled as she flipped her hair. "I kinda like to change my outfits every once in a while."

"Hey! There it is!" Kera said as she pointed to a ticket booth that led to the arena. The group went up to the booth and was greeted by the woman in charge.

"Good evening, are you here for the race?"

"My best friend and I are!" Breezy smiled.

"Well then, you two need to register your boards in order to participate. The rest of you can pay for the tickets and enjoy the show."

"No problem," Larcen nodded. He, Samson and Zed were the only ones to pay for the tickets. As the Ad said, women were free till midnight.

"That's done. Now for you two, we need to go inside and find the Gear Register. You can't compete until you do."

"Alright, will do that," Breezy nodded.

"Well, well. Look who it is," a velvety smooth voice called over to them from above.

The group looked up and found Jewels the Echidna coming down on her white and black board which she called the Femme Fatale. She too changed her outfit to suit the games. She had on a reveling gray and white strap-on top with grey jeans with flower drawings on them and white sneakers. She still had on her normal gloves and knuckledusters.

"So you guys heard about the Chaos Emerald here too," Jewels grinned as she hopped off her board.

"Yep," Athena nodded. "Where's Radian?"

"He has some more assignments to deal with and he's not so much of a sports guy anyway," she shrugged.

"Oh, I see," Larcen said.

"Well, come on then. Let's get going," Jewels pressed as she went into the arena. The others soon followed her. When they reached the door to the arena a small both that had a scanner on it. Breezy was up first and place her board into the red light. A small beep was heard, showing that the registration was complete.

**"Registration complete. Name: Breezy the Hedgehog. Age: 14. Gear Type: Speed."**

"Next?"

Gadget went up and placed his board in. Another beep was heard. And Jewels was the last to go.

**"Name: Miles Prower. Age: 11. Gear Type: Flight."**

**"Name: Jewels the Echidna. Age: 16 Gear Type: Power."**

"There, all done."

"Now all we have to do is what for the announcement," Gadget said.

"Maria? Is that you?"

The black echidna looked around in confusion for a moment before she looked to the stands and spied a familiar human girl. She then broke out in a huge smile before she zipped into Molly's arms.

"Molly!" Maria squealed. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's been a long time since that attack in the Chao Gardens, hasn't it?" Molly smiled back. "I was worried that something terrible may have happened to you."

"I survived," she said as Molly set her down.

"Hey Molly!" Athena called over as the rest of them walked over. "How have you been?"

"I've been well, actually," she said. "I had a few doctor visits, but it was nothing serious." She was about to ask a question herself when two more people caught her attention. "Eli? Zed?"

"Molly, hi!" Eli squealed as she ran up to Molly and gave her tight hug. "Long time no see!"

"Oh, I'll say! It's been a while hasn't it?" Molly said as they separated. As she spotted Zed, who wasn't all too thrilled to see her, she gave a small smirk. "Hello Zed. Have you been a good boy?"

"Watch it, red," he growled.

"Huh?" Maria blinked in confusion. "Molly, you know them?"

"Hehe," Molly smiled sheepishly. "I try to keep this a secret as much as I can. You see… their father is my older half-brother."

"What?" Marisa gasped. "You mean… you're their aunt?"

"It isn't really uncommon," Larcen said with an equally stunned face. "But it's still quite a surprise."

"That's why I can't understand this family," Zed replied gruffly.

"So you're here to see the race as well?" Kera asked.

"Yes, I'm a big fan of EX Racing," Molly nodded.

"?" Athena suddenly gaped as she was looking elsewhere.

"What is it Athena?" Breezy asked her. "Still shell-shocked that Eli and Zed's aunt is the same age as them."

Athena didn't seem to hear her. "Isn't that Jam… with a GIRL?"

"WHAT?" Breezy, Gadget, Jewels, Maria, Daisy and Violet, who had taken the moment to close her book, gawked as the piled on her and looked at where she was pointing.

Indeed it was Jam that Bat, Jewels' elder brother, sitting on a bench and drinking orange soda. He wasn't alone. Sitting next to him was a female monkey who looked Chinese. Her fur was brown, her eyes where green, and her hair was red and done up in two long ponytails with buns on top of her head. She wore a blue Chinese dress with a wave pattern; the middle was opened slightly, showing her smooth belly. Her hands and forearms were warped up in white bandages and her fingers were shown. On her feet were blue Kung Fu shoes with ribbons that lased up to her ankles. Like Jam, she was looking quite awkward and both of them had slight blushes on their faces. The five girls and single boy were stunned into seeing a socially impede bat like Jam being able to hook up with a pretty girl. Sure he had a firm chest, beefy arms and legs, and a cute butt, but being someone like him… well, it was just weird.

"Oh, so that's Jam," Kera said as she arched an eyebrow. She managed to keep a straight face. She wasn't the boy-crazy type of girl. "What's so weird about him being with somebody?"

"Darling," Jewels began as she faced her. "Once you get to know him, you'll see what I mean."

"Hey, Jam!" Breezy yelled, nearly damaging Athena's left ear. "Over here!"

"Ouch! Hey!" Athena glared. "A cat's ears are sensitive, you know!"

Jam blinked and looked up. Showing a slight toothy grin, he walked up with arms folded behind his head, the monkey close behind. "Hey guys, long time no see."

"Hey, how goes the search?" Jewels asked him.

"It's going well," Jam said as he stretched at his arms. In a bright flash, eight Emerald Shards appeared before him. "I just need four more shards. At this rate, the Master Emerald will be restored in no time." As he dismissed his shards, he noticed some unrecognizable people. "Hm, so you guys have a bit more company now. My name is Jam. Who are you?"

Larcen blinked awkwardly before walking up to Jam and stretched out his hand. "Hello, Jam. My name is Larcen the Hedgehog." Jam nodded and shook his hand. "These are my friends; Marisa Harmon, Kera the Hedgehog and Samson the Swallow."

"What's up?" Marisa smiled and waved.

"Evening," Kera smiled slightly.

"Aloha, Senor Jam!" Samson grinned.

"And the other two are Princess Eli and Prince Zed of Soleanna."

"Hi!" Eli greeted cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you guys," Jam nodded.

"So Jam, who's your new friend?" Jewels asked with furrowed eyebrows.

The monkey in question bowed. "N-nihao. My name is Xiangfei the Monkey. You may call me Meiling."

Jewels chuckled at her stutters. "Nice to know you, Meiling. I'm Jam's sister, Jewels."

"Perhaps we should get to the arena and continue getting acquainted from there," Maria said quickly. "We don't want to be late."

"Oh yeah," Breezy nodded. "We'd better getting going." The team was about to go into their arena, but then they were stopped by a voice.

"Well if it isn't Breezy the Hedgehog."

"Hm?" Breezy blinked as she heard her name. As she spied the origin of the sound, she grinned. "I knew you three would show up here. You never turn down a race… Jazz."

The rest of the friends turned to look at Breezy's direction. They saw three birds walking up them. One was a purple hawk who looked slightly younger than Breezy. He had on a brown trench coat, green goggles, and orange and black boots. He held and orange and black Gear in his arms. On his right was a green swallow that looked related to him. She wore a green and white shirt with matching pants and fingerless gloves along with red sneakers. She also wore glasses. She held a green and white Gear in her hands. On the hawk's left was an attractive albatross. Her feathers were black and blue and she wore a red coat with a blue shirt seen underneath and a matching skirt that stopped by her thighs. She also had red boots and two thin ponytails swinging behind her back. She held a red and blue Gear in her hands. By the way Breezy, Gadget and Jewels reacted…

"Long time no see, hedgehog," the hawk identified as Jazz smirked at her. "I do hope you're ready to race."

"You should know me by now Jazzy old pal, old buddy," Breezy smirked back.

"Well, well, if it isn't the three tailed punk," the swallow smirked ignorantly at Gadget.

Gadget scolded. "Nice to see you too, Melody."

Jewels, on the other hand, was a bit more friendlier with her rival, "Hey Ivy!" she smiled as she locked fists with her, "It's been a long time!"

"Too long, girl," Ivy smiled cheerfully. "I hope you haven't lost you touch since the last time we race."

"Hey, you should know better than to underestimate an agent of G.U.N.!" Jewels laughed.

"Who are they?" Marisa wondered.

"They call themselves the Children of Babylon, or so I hear," Jam explained. "These guys are the son and daughters of the Babylon Rouges, long time rivals of our dads."

"So they are like you," Meiling said.

"In a way, they are," Jam shrugged.

Before continuing to talk smack, the Children of Babylon placed their Gears into the scanner to register themselves. They were now in the race.

**"Name: Jazz the Hawk. Age: 13. Gear Type: Speed."**

**"Name: Melody the Swallow. Age: 15. Gear Type: Flight."**

**"Name: Ivy the Albatross. Age: 19. Gear Type: Power."**

"I hope you're ready to lose, Breezy the Hedgehog," Jazz began as he jabbed his finger at her. "We're gonna win this thing, and we'll prove that we're the fastest of all!"

"Yeah, yeah," Breezy yawned, annoying Jazz, "Like that will ever happen."

"Yeah," a new voice declared. "Cause WE will prove to be the fastest!"

That's when new figures came before them. The first figure was a red hedgehog. He had blue eyes and goggles set atop his head. He was wearing a stylish fur coat that is colored white, black gloves, black colored boots, and two spike-shaped bracelets on his wrists. And he was carrying a white-colored board with him. The second figure was a female human with long dark-black hair that goes along with a blue cap, she was wearing blue goggles over her head. Her eye color is green. She was wearing Goth make up on her face. On her body, she is wearing a stylish blue shirt a picture of a guitar on it, blue leather gloves, stylish blue jeans, and blue boots to finish her attire. She was also carrying a blue board with her. The last figure was a large mammoth. He had brown fur that came with a black motorcycle jacket, he was wearing shades over his eyes, has two large tusks, and was wearing large black boots. And he was carrying a large crimson board with him, as well.

Kera's eyes narrowed as she saw the red hedgehog, "You…"

"And who the heck are you?" Jazz asked.

"Yamkir the Hedgehog!" the red hedgehog began. "Speed is my main ace!"

"Xion Herra," the human girl continued. "Mess with one of us, and you mess with all of us."

"Robin the Mammoth," the brown mammoth finished in a Scottish accent. "Don't think you can get passed me, ladies!"

"All three of us combine to make the greatest EX Team in the world: Team Rockers!" Yamkir announced. He and his team swiftly turned their heads to the sky, accompanied by a bullwhip sound, looking like they were having a moment.

"Yick!" Breezy, Maria, Athena, Eli and Jewels groaned darkly as they sweatdroped. They could only guess that they thought it made them look cool.

"What kind of load of bull is Team Rockers?" Melody frowned.

Yamkir gave her a cocky grin. "We are also rock band that sold over 50 million CDs in the world already! With our power of awesome rock, you newbies are goin' solo!"

"I see you still have that cocky attitude of yours," Kera commented as she stepped up to Yamkir.

The younger hedgehog blinked and his cocky grin turned into an awkward smirk as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh hey, Kera. You doin' alright?"

"Very well indeed," Kera nodded with that frown still on her face. "You haven't changed since I last saw you."

"You know me," Yamkir grinned as he made a motion with his hands. "I'm just breezing through!"

"You know each other?" Marisa asked. "Isn't this interesting?"

"Everyone," Kera began as she pointed at him, "This is my baby brother, Yamkir."

"Oh, so just 'cause I'm younger than you by couple months automatically makes me a baby bother!" Yamkir growled as he crossed his arms.

"Well, maybe if you stop acting so ignorant, perhaps I wouldn't consider you to be a baby at all!" Kera snapped.

"He's your brother?" Larcen blinked.

"Whoa, little dude," Xion said. "I never knew your sister was well... like that."

"Come on now lads," Robin said as he tried to calm things down. "You can't let the heat get to our heads now can we? Besides, we need to register."

"Oh, yeah," Yamkir nodded. Team Rockers went to the scanner and registered their boards.

**"Name: Yamkir the Hedgehog. Age: 20. Gear Type: Speed."**

**"Name: Xion Herra. Age: 19. Gear Type: Flight."**

**"Name: Robin the Mammoth. Age: 25. Gear Type: Power."**

_"Attention. The register is now closed. All racers place report to the lobby for further instructions." _

"Let's go and get some eats!" Marisa said as she and Larcen left.

"We'll be rooting for you," Maria winked. "Good luck!"

"Luck is an abstract of chance, but yeah," Violet smiled.

"Luck is for wimps anyway," Jazz snorted as he and his team left.

"Yeah whatever," Breezy shrugged as the others followed.

"Well, let's go," Daisy smiled.

* * *

_"Attention race fans! The EX Zero Gravity Gran Prix is about to begin!"_

Around the around, the crowd roared with excitement as Omochao made the announcement from the jumbotron. It was moments like these that made pride swell up with people.

_"Each team will be going three laps around the Roulette Road. All obstacles of the stage will change constantly, but fear not! Each racer is equipped with an artificial Ark of Cosmos. This will allow them to shift gravity for a short period of time. They can use the gravity around them to attack and defend. First time to make it finish line wins the green Chaos Emerald!"_

Omochoa's face vanished and was replaced by the shining green jewel. In front of it, a pedestal rose, holding the very same gem. The crowd once again cheered.

_"The first team we have are the children of three heroes of legends. The leader is Breezy the Hedgehog, representing speed. Representing flight is her best friend Milo 'Gadget' Prower. Representing power is Jewels the Echidna, Agent of G.U.N. Introducing Team Forever!"_

As the crowd cheered, Breezy waved happily at the audience while Gadget shyly waved with her. Jewels blew out some flirty kisses.

_"Next is another team who descend from legends. Team leader is Jazz the Hawk, representing speed. The flying ace is his older sister, Melody the Swallow. And the muscle is their distant cousin, Ivy the Albatross. Please give your best for Children of Babylon!"_

As the crowd cheered Jazz and Melody simple stood confidently. Ivy on the other hand, couldn't help but give out a few winks.

_"Finally comes a famous rock band who also doubles as EX Racers. Lead singer is Yamkir the Hedgehog, the speedster. Next is the guitarist and sky rider, Xion Herra. Last but not least is the drummer and brawler, Robin the Mammoth. Give it up for Team Rockers!"_

Team Rockers made no movement as the applause came. They just stood and smirked. This was a race, not a concert. Well, at least Robin laughed heartily as he waved at the cheering crowd.

_"All teams, prepare to engage."_

The followed the instruction as the countdown board appeared before them.

**3**… the racers backed up to gain speed.

**2**… they kicked off and started running for the starting gate.

**1**… almost there…

As the counter reached zero, all racers took off, with the crowd going wild. Jazz was in first with Breezy and Xion closing in. Yamkir was also close, and Gadget and Ivy were right behind him. Jewels, Robin and Melody were trailing behind.

Jazz saw Xion approach him quickly and narrowed his eyes. He tried to make an effort to kick her off her board, but Xion retaliated by shoving him off with her Ark.

"Sorry, loser!" Xion mocked as she dashed off. Jazz growled as he kicked off after her. There was no way a Goth was gonna one-up him on this.

As Breezy was catching up, she saw Yamkir coming up next to him. "Not bad, beautiful. How bout you and I go on a date after we get that Chaos Emerald?" he asked with a grin.

"Sorry," Breezy replied as she shook her head. "I don't date older guys." And she dashed from him.

As Ivy was going through the road, she noticed Gadget approaching her. She couldn't help but smile. "Looks like you got better with the board, kid," she remarked.

Gadget smiled brightly, "Let me show you just how better I got!" and he dashed away from her. Ivy quickly dashed after him.

As for Jewels and Melody, the two were fighting it out to get out of last place. "This race is ours!" Melody snapped as she swung her baseball bat. "So back off you big breasted cow!"

"Big breasted cow?" Jewels frowned. "Look who's talking you flat ironing board!"

"Take that back!"

"Like can ever get a one up on me anyway," Jewels grinned as she jabbed Melody's flat chest, much to her irritation, "You're what? Fifteen? And you still can't grow? (click, click, click) Too bad."

"Why you…!"

**POW!**

Melody landed on her back after taking a blow from Jewel's fist. As she got up, she watched her ride away, laughing.

"Ohhh, you are SO gonna get it!" Melody swore as she jumped back into the race.

The first obstacle of the race course was six gamble machines. Each one was on both sides of the road. As the racers reached the giant machines, all of them stopped at a triple 7. Lots and lots of coins began to pour out soon after.

Xion managed to swerve right and left to avoid getting hit by the coins. She grinned to herself as she knew that nothing would get past her. Unfortunately, she jinxed herself. Breezy zipped past her.

"You can't see me!" Breezy grinned as she waved three fingers in front of her face.

Xion frowned darkly as she powered up her Ark and raced it over her head. _"Gravity Grip!"_ she called as she manipulated her gravity area, making most of the coins float above her. With full force, she threw them at the hedgehog.

Breezy turned around and saw the coins flying right at her. Narrowing her eyes, she jumped off her board and curled up into a ball, striking one of the coins off course. In a chain reaction, all the coins hit each other in a chain combo, canceling their flight.

Even worse for Xion, Jazz flew over her as he was propelled by a gravity shield. The shield vanished as he landed. Xion began to seethe, seeing that she was now in third place. Still, she knew that it was just the start of the race. She had plenty of time.

Yamkir pulled out his guitar, grinning, and played a loud note. That sent a huge shockwave to blast the coins in front of him out of his way.

"THINK FAST!"

Yamkir didn't even see Ivy coming up from behind him. He thought his heart stopped for a minute as the black and blue albatross yelled in his ear and dashed past him. As Yamkir managed to get his focus back, Robin rode up next to him.

"You alright, lad?"

"Yeah, didn't see that coming," Yamkir said as he shook his head. Then he smirked. "A grab and go then?"

"You bet!" Robin smiled as he grabbed Yamkir and swung him around. As he got enough speed, he threw Yamkir forward.

"Time to even the odds!" Yamkir said as his Ark glowed. _"Gravity Control!" _In a flash of light, he warped to a wall that was adjacent to the track. This made things a whole lot easier for him. There were no obstacles and the track was smoother. He disregarded the other racers as he went ahead. As the wall came to an end, he jumped off. Now he was in the lead.

"Aw crud!" Breezy groaned. It wasn't the only thing she needed to worry about though. She felt an elbow strike her ribs, taking away her focus for a while. Looking to her left, she saw that Jazz had pasted her.

"Sayonara, chump!" Jazz shouted as he went ahead.

"Humph!" Breezy snorted as she kicked off after him.

The ramp came up and the racers jumped off of it, doing some tricks. A rail also happened to be over them. Yamkir, Jazz and Breezy quickly grinded on it. There also some air rings above them. After doing their tricks, Xion, Gadget and Melody zipped inside, fling through the air. That left Ivy, Jewels and Robin to stick to the ground.

In the air, Gadget smiled to himself as he glided through the rings. He was really enjoying himself. And then Melody came behind him.

"Out of my way, brat!" Melody shouted as she hopped over Gadget and landed back on her board, flying ahead of him.

"Hah?" Gadget exclaimed as he saw her leave.

As the fly Gears landed, Melody quickly pulled out her bat and struck Xion on the back as she said, "Here you go!" The Goth girl groaned in pain as the green swallow went past her. Xion kicked up next to the younger girl, pulled out her guitar and played loud notes as she sent a shockwave screech. Melody clenched her teeth as she covered her ears, allowing Xion to pass.

"Sorry, girly!" Xion mocked as she went off. Gadget passed Melody as she tried to get her hearing back.

"Damn that woman," she growled as she went back into the race.

As for the power racers, the next obstacles of the race were giant bingo balls. The colored and numbered balls rolled down the street, right for the racers. Ivy, who was leading, managed to pass the 8 ball. That ball was now rolling for Robin. The mammoth tock a deep breath and blew his trunk, sending a powerful cold blast to fire back the ball. Ivy happened to hear this, so she turned around and slapped her arm at the ball. It was now sent to Jewels. She pulled her fist and sent a powerful punch that totally shattered the ball. Both she and Robin went through the dust.

"You're pretty strong for a young lassie," Robin commented. "There oughta be more gals like you in the world."

"My, my. What a gentleman," Jewels cooed as she made eyes. "But don't think I'll ease up on you." And without another word, she dashed ahead.

"I wonder if she's single," Robin said to himself with a smile.

At this time, the crowed cheered as all racers began their second lap. Yamkir came in first with Breezy and Jazz fighting to catch up. Melody had somehow managed to reach forth place with Xion and Gadget close behind her. And last were Ivy, Jewels and Robin.

Back on the track, Yamkir, Breezy and Jazz drifted through a hard curve. And then through another.

"Alright, hedgehog," Jazz smirked. "Show me what you got.

"Gladly," Breezy smiled back.

That was when the course began to change. Now the next trap was a roulette-like area. There were three in all and with balls. The roulettes were spinning, making it hard to move around. Breezy and Jazz grinned at each other. This was a way to see who would get to Yamkir.

Jazz pulled out a huge Japanese looking fan and blew a huge gust at his rival. At first, Breezy panicked, seeing how see didn't have a way to defend herself. But then she got an idea. Pushing a heel on one of the Gear's buttons, she pushed herself into the air, avoiding the gust. Then she dove down to Jazz and went around him, creating a tornado to send him off course.

"See ya!" she waved as she went after Yamkir.

"Shoot!" Jazz frowned as he went after her.

Meanwhile, Robin managed to reach Ivy and was now trading fists with her. Ivy managed to strike him in the ribs, but while he was distracted, he didn't seem to be fazed.

"Hehe, that tickled," Robin chuckled.

"Yu!" Ivy gulped. Then she noticed Jewels coming up next to Robin, winking at her. Ivy grinned as she nodded. They both punched Robin at the same time, making him fkly backwards.

Melody managed to catch up to Gadget. "Back off, twerp!" she said. "This race is ours!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Gadget said as he went past her.

"Not a bright one is he?" she mumbled. She was about to go after him when some beeping caught her attention. She looked down and her eyes widen when she saw a small bomb that Gadget had managed to leave.

"He IS bright!"

The bomb electrocuted and immobilized her, allowing Xion to pass her. As the shock came to a stop, she found herself at last place.

"Not my day!" she moaned as she went off again.

The next obstacle was a giant pinball machine. It all looked like a huge pinball table with the flippers, bumpers and everything. The racers had best be sure not to get hit.

Yamkir looked behind to see Breezy racing up to him. "So you caught up with me, have you?"

"It wasn't too hard," Breezy smirked.

"Really? Well in that case, how bout a showdown?"

"Heh," she merely grinned.

With that, the two boosted from each other and bounced off the bumpers. As they leaped into the air and did stunts, fireworks exploded over them, creating a fantastic scene of awesomeness. They landed back down and the fighting began. Yamkir pulled out his guitar and swung it at her. The younger hedgehog ducked and began her own offensive by sending kicks. Yamkir managed to grab her leg and tried to push her off her board, but Breezy would have none of that. She managed to send her other leg to his chest, letting him go but not fazing him. As he tried to swing he guitar again, Breezy grabbed it in her arms. Yamkir pulled and tugged, causing both racers to spin in circles. The spin was getting faster and faster but nether were willing to let go. After a long spin, Yamkir managed to pry Breezy off, sending both of them spiraling into opposite corners. By the time the got their senses back, Ivy, Robin, Melody and Jazz had passed them. Still, they got back into the race.

_"And as the final lap goes under way, the racers know this is it!"_ Omochao narrated. _"Looks like Ivy has taken the lead with Robin, Melody and Jazz close behind. Breezy and Yamkir need some catching up to do. And dead last is Gadget, Jewels and Xion. It's make or break time!"_

As soon as the mechanical Chao said those words, the Arks glowed brighter. Everyone took noticed of this.

"Looks like we're going to overtime," Xion smiled. A chance to get back into the race.

"Now were talking!" Yamkir grinned.

"You ready for this, Melody?" Jazz asked his big sister.

"I'm always ready," she smiled.

It was time for them to break through everything.

_"Gravity… DRIVE!"_

All racers suddenly began to fly through the air in incredible speeds, disregarding all the other traps. The tracks were now a loop-de-loop path for them to follow as the crowd watched them pass by in flashing speeds. This was anyone's game now.

"This is our race!" Yamkir shouted over the woos of the winds.

"Fat chance!" Jazz retorted as he knocked him on the side.

"Watch it, bird-brain!" Xion shouted as she knocked him.

"Free for all!" Ivy shouted as all of them began to biped and bopped one another with their shields as they went through the loops and turns. Before anyone knew it, they were almost at the finish line.

The crowd waited anxiously to see who would make it to the finish line first. In the crowd, the rest of the gang was looking for the others.

"Anything yet? Maria asked.

"No… nothing," Molly squinted to get a better look. Then her eyes widen. "Wait! I see something!"

"What is it?" Athena asked.

"Some kind of shining lights! But it must be them!"

And she was right too. With a loud **ZOOM**, all the racers passed the finish line and halted themselves as the Arks went offline. The crowd cheered, but there was no official response as to who won.

_"Looks like we have a photo finish on our hands,"_ Omochao said, _"Please stand by while we have the results developed."_

So soft mummers shifted into the crowd, wondering who won. Breezy was biting on her thumb, Jazz had his arms folded and his foot tapping and Yamkir had his hands in his pockets as he waited.

_"After a close analysis, we have come to a decision!" _

Everyone turned their heads and looked at the jumbotron. There they saw the photo finish: Breezy's head was just over the finish line. Yamkir and Melody missed by that much. So that meant….

_"It's official! The winners of this race is Team Forever!"_

The crowd cheered loudly in excitement. Breezy grabbed Gadget in a hug and twirled him around as Jewels made a punch in the air in triumph. The Children of Babylon stood in disappointment while Team Rockers looked ashamed.

"We did it, Breezy!" Gadget cheered. "We got another Chaos Emerald!"

"Yeah! We rock!" Breezy laughed as she rubbed her nose against his.

"Way to go, everybody!" Marisa shouted as their friends came down to congratulate them. Maria, Daisy and Violet hugged Gadget happily while Athena high-fived Breezy and Jewels.

"That was some excellent moves you made!" Larcen smiled. "I never pegged any of you to be great racers."

"Must be in the genes," Kera laughed.

"You could say that," Breezy winked.

Suddenly, Team Rockers approached Team Forever. Everyone stood silently as Yamkir stood before Breezy. After a beat, he extended his hand.

"You guys were really good, for newbies that is," Yamkir grinned. Breezy smiled back as she shook his hand. "Maybe next time we can race again, beautiful."

"Don't flatter yourself, but I look forward to it," Breezy smiled. As they let go, she saw the Children of Babylon behind him. They were walking away. "Hey!"

Jazz stopped for a minute as he turned to look at her. "Just so you know, our rivalry doesn't end here," he swore before turning back.

Breezy sighed at her rival's stubbornness. He too was a lot like his dad, even though he got better from what her dad said, but it couldn't be helped. Suddenly, the cheers of excitement turned into screams of terror.

"What the?" Xion gaped.

"What is…?" Eli gasped.

"Huh?" Melody wondered as she and her team stopped and looked.

What they were seeing was strange shadow creatures attacking everything insight. Not to mention that bursts of dark energy were making things explode. The crowed was in great panic and tried anxiously to get out.

_"Everyone! Please stay calm and don't panic!"_ Omochao ordered, "_Exit the arena in a clam fashion and you will all be able to leave a soon as you can!"_

"What is this?" Ivy shouted as the Children of Babylon raced back to meet the others. "What's going on!"

"I have seen this before…" Omega stated.

"Wait? You have?" Samson asked.

"The only one who is capable of doing this… is the one behind the kidnappings," Omega conformed.

"You mean it's him?" Daisy gasped.

As if on que, someone, or something, appeared out of a shudder of darkness and floated to the ground. It looked like a hedgehog… or something close to it. Its flesh was a deep vivid purple, and had the look of fish scales. Its arms and legs were completely encased by the crystals. Its fingers and feet were talon-like claws. And the quills… looked somewhat familiar.

"Is that… daddy?" Maria whispered with shocked eyes. "No… that is not my father. It's a replica!"

Hearing her voice, the Shadow look-alike turned around. They saw his muzzle was a pale blue and was missing a mouth. His eyes were what scared them the most: the irises were a demonic shade of green. And where the whites usually were suppose to be, the color was a glassish blood red instead. "What do we have here?"

"Hey! Who are you? And why do you look like Uncle Shadow?" Breezy demanded.

The demon hedgehog eyed her for a moment, and then spoke. "Ah, you must be Breezy Merlina Hedgehog. At last we meet," he said with a bow.

"Merlina…?" Marisa snickered as she repeated Breezy's middle name.

The younger purple hedgehog frowned darkly, "Alright, now we know for sure that you aren't Uncle Shadow. Are you the one doing this?"

"Wait a minute," Jam said as he stepped to the front, "It's that crystal hedgehog again! The one on my island!"

"That's the hedgehog that tried to steal the Master Emerald?" Jewels exclaimed.

"And his evil aura is dangerous," Athena frowned as she eyed him. "It reminds me of… Atlas."

"So the one who kidnapped our parents..." Breezy began.

"The one who tried to destroy time and space years ago…" Maria continued.

"And the one manipulated our moms and dads to do it…" Athena finished.

"It's you! Isn't it, Mephiles the Dark!" all three of them declared as they pointed hotly at him.

"What?" everyone else but Omega gasped.

The now dubbed Mephiles couldn't help but applaud them in a sarcastic manner. "Ah, very good. Excellent detective work, children."

"So you're Mephiles, the one who our mom has a connection with," Zed frowned.

"Yeah! What did you do with the queen?" Larcen demanded with an accusing finger.

"The… queen?" Mephiles would have blinked dumbly if he had any eyelids. Then something began to play in his mind: an image of a teenaged princess in a bloodstained dress cradling a murdered blue hedgehog in her arms. A look of absolute sorrow on her face, "Ah, you must be referring to Elise. Forgive me; I am still not so used to this era. Well, I will have you know that the royal crybaby is of no use or threat to me. I have no reason to have her."

"So then… you aren't the reason behind her disappearance," Molly realized. And what did he mean by "royal crybaby"?

"Correct," without another word, Mephiles turn to the pedestal and jumped up to it with lighting speed. As he landed, he grabbed the Chaos Emerald from its place. "I must thank you, hedgehog. The anti-matter barrier prevented me from taking the Chaos Emerald until the winner was called."

"No way!" Jewels shouted as they ran up to him. "We'll stop you no matter what!"

Mephiles cackled as he jumped down. "YOU stop ME? Child, I am the Soul of the Sun, He Who Rules Over Time and Space. I am one half of Solaris the Sun God. Do you really think you have the audacity to beat me? You and your ragtag band of misfits?"

"It's in our blood," Athena said as her hands went up in flames and stood in a Kung Fu fighting stance.

"Very well," Mephiles said as he held the glowing gem up high. "Then allow me to show you the gateway to darkness!" a huge blast of energy shot from the Emerald and into the sky, disappearing in the ironic fireworks display. After a small moment of silence around them, a much larger green blast came down from the sky and hit Mephiles. The demon hedgehog stretched his arms out with glee, enjoying his increased power.

"He's using the Chaos Emerald to strengthen himself!" Maria gasped. "Molly, you, Zed, Eli and the Prowers help everyone get out of here. We can handle Mephiles."

Molly nodded fearfully, "Just be careful." She turned to her niece, nephew and the Prowers. "Let's go!"

"You girls go. I'm gonna stay and fight," Zed said as he pounded his fists.

"Don't be stupid, Zed," Molly frowned. "You saw what Mephiles was capable of. And that was only a portion of his power! Do you really want to know what he can do to you? Breezy, Maria and the others have faced monsters like him before, but you haven't!"

Zed frowned as he looked at his aunt. As much as he hated to admit it… she was right. "Fine, let's get these people out of here." With that, they and the Prowers went to get everyone out.

"Come on, dude!" Xion said as she pulled Yamkir's arm. "Let's help!"

"But Kera and the others…!"

"Like the red head lass said, we never fought him before," Robin reasoned as he pulled the other arm. "Now come on!" And Team Rockers, and a reluctant Yamkir, went after others to evacuate the people.

Breezy eyed Jazz who was right next to her, his fan ready. Melody and Ivy were right behind him. "So you're gonna fight with us?"

"Hell yeah I am," he smiled. "Sides, you owe me another race when this is over."

"How did I know you were gonna say that?" she joked as she turned her attention back to Mephiles.

"So you let the little people out of harms way," Mephiles sneered. "How noble. Now prepare for the promise land!" His shadow stretched out and a hoard of nasty imps jumped out of it. All of them lunged at the group of amateur heroes.

"What the hell?" Kera gawked.

"Look out!" Jazz shouted as he swung his fan out. It let out a huge gust of wind that blew away most of the imps. But more still came. Larcen was kicking and punching the mini-monsters away from him while Marisa managed to blast them with her magic. Kera managed to slice each incoming imp in two, while Samson and Omega shot at them with their guns. Ivy used her wrestling skills to crush each imp into submission while Jam, Jewels and Meiling managed with their martial arts. Melody swatted each imp away with her bat. Breezy kicked the imps from her face while Maria knocked them away and Athena threw them out.

After crushing another imp with his kick, Jam eyed Mephiles and went after him. "This time I'll get him good!" he swore as he jumped into the air and spread his wings out.

"Come on, boy!" Mephiles glared.

Jam turned upright and twirled into his mother's signature Drill Kick. Mephiles merely warped away from the attack. As he landed, Jam made his hand go up in flames. _"Cross Edge!"_ he shouted as he made an X shape projectile and threw it at Mephiles. Mephiles summoned a wall of crystal to block Jam's attack, making it vanish instantly. As Mephiles dismissed his wall, Jam came down with a drop kick and continued to attack with three more kicks. Mephiles dodged each one and it irked him. Growling, he made his legs go a flare. _"Heat Wave!"_ he yelled as he made an up-draft kick of red flames. The attack did hit Mephiles and made him stagger back. The demon hedgehog just rubbed his chin to get to heat out.

"Take this!" Mephiles yelled as he sent a retaliation punch at Jam. The red fruit bat yelled out as he flew backwards for some feet and landed painfully on his back.

"Jam-son!" Meiling cried.

"Jam!" Jewels gasped. She turned and glared at Mephiles. "Come on, Meiling, let's get that freak!"

"Quán!" Meiling nodded as the two went into the fight.

"Eat this! _Ruby Allure!"_ Jewels yelled as she slammed her arms into the ground and made a shining shockwave. Mephiles waved his arm out and made the shockwave vanished just before it hit him.

"Hee-ya!" Meiling cried as she attacked with her punches and kicks. Her movement was very slippery, but so was Mephiles'. Finally, she managed to knee him in the stomach area, making him hunch over. Then she sent punches and kicks to make him slip back, and flipped on top of him with her heels on his chest, sending rapid fists on his face before swinging her legs around his head and throwing him on his back. Before he got up, she raised her hand above her head as she crouched in a monkey (no pun intended) style. _"Kikou Shou!"_ she yelled as she slammed her palm down and made an orb of water appear around her. Mephiles was hit multiple times and was thrown backwards. He ended up crashing into a pack of chairs. Pulling himself out of the mess, he managed to utter:

"Well that was cold."

He heard the clicks of a gun and turned to his right. There he saw, Breezy, Maria, Athena and Omega, looking at him tensely. Omega had both of his guns trained on Mephiles.

"Party's over," Breezy frowned.

"I must admit, you do have an abominable resolution to get what you want," Mephiles said. "But it's all in vain, for you cannot destroy me. I'm a shadow, always present but never caught!" Mephiles laughed again and melted into the chairs and the ground.

"Where'd he go?" Athena gaped as everyone ran to where Mephiles vanished.

"Did he escape?" Ivy asked.

"No… he's still here," Kera said as she scanned the area.

"Shh… do you hear that?" Larcen said.

"Hear what?" Samson asked.

"It sounds… like laughing…" Larcen conformed.

It was indeed laughing that they were hearing. In fact, it was Mephiles' laughter that they were hearing.

"I am a shadow, children. You can chase me, but can never catch me. You cannot destroy your own shadow... therefore, you cannot destroy me."

"So he is a shadow now…" Maria thought out loud. "How can you defeat a shadow?"

"What do you think, braceface?" Melody asked.

"My name is Athena! And how should I know?"

Marisa also thought for a moment as she rubbed her chin. What was a shadow most afraid of? Something that they could not touch, no matter where they were. What could it be? Then she got her answer. Grinning, she snapped her fingers. "Everyone, cover your eyes!"

"What for?" Melody asked as she arched an eyebrow.

"Do it!" Everyone was wondering what she had up her sleeve, but did what she asked. After seeing that everyone followed her request, she collected glows of light in her hands, grinning. "Maybe we can't defeat a shadow... but I know something that will!" With a shout, she moved her hands over her head in a swift motion and summoned a huge flash of bright light.

Mephiles gave out a sharp cry and Marisa suddenly saw out of the corner of her eyes the form of Mephiles be hurled from the ground as if the ground itself spat him out. "H…how?" Mephiles panted as everyone reopened their eyes.

"A shadow can't withstand the light," Marisa replied smugly. "While there may always be a shadow in a room full of light, the shadow can't exist where the light reaches."

Mephiles managed to get back on to his feet, "A very wise observation. You truly are the daughter of the legendary sage."

Marisa couldn't help but smirk in pride.

"It doesn't matter. Your LIMITED power cannot hope to defeat me."

"We don't have to worry about limitations," Kera said as she pointed her Dragon Sword at him. "All we need to do is to bring you down no matter what. Now let's finish this once and for all, shall we?"

Wordlessly, Mephiles eyed her and motion her to come.

With a yell, Kera charged as her blade sparked with lighting. As she reached him, she began to swing her blade at him at fast speeds. With the Chaos Emerald's power, however, Mephiles' speed had increased and he wasn't getting hit at all. He was even giving off after-images as he moved. Finally having enough, Mephiles stopped the sword with his adamant arm just as it reached his face. Kera looked on in shock.

"So this is the legendary Dragon Sword," Mephiles commented as he looked at the blade. Then his eyes turned to Kera, "And you must be its new wielder."

"How do you know that?" Kera asked, not taking the sword from his hand.

"I know everything."

"Where have I heard that before?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" he yelled as he slapped her wrist, making her drop her sword. He kicked her in the chest, making her fly back and land on her already damaged hand.

Up on the stands, Team Rockers saw what was happing after they got everyone out. Yamkir gasped as he saw what Mephiles did to Kera. "Kera!" he shouted as he hopped on his board. "Hang on, sis! I'll save ya!" and he dashed into the danger.

"Hey! Come back!" Xion shouted as she chased him.

"Hold on!" Robin yelled as he ran on foot.

"Although you are the reincarnate of the Dark Dragon Lord, you don't seem to carry his… rage," Mephiles said smoothly as he stalked Kera. She clenched her teeth as she held her damaged wrist as she tried to get up.

"Kera! Come on, Kera! Move!" Larcen shouted.

"Senorita Kera!" Samson gasped.

As Kera managed to get up, she found herself facing Mephiles, who stood some inches from her. What made it worse was that she was now unarmed; her sword was some feet away from them. She did know a little hand to hand combat, but her hand was still broken. Waving a hand, a large crystalline spike materialized in his palm. "You have a fiery passion, Kera the Hedgehog, I will concede that... but I have the power that you can only wish to have... that is all that is necessary." He moved the spike at her face, her eyes widened with a mix of anger and fear. "And with this power... I smite thee."

"GO TO HELL!"

Before Mephiles could turn around, a kick knocked him clear from Kera, making him lose his spike. He quickly got up and saw Kera's younger brother standing in front of her in defense.

"Yamkir, get out of here!" Kera pleaded. "That's no ordinary hedgehog!"

"Don't worry about me, sis," Yamkir said in a rarely serious voice. "This guy will pay for hurting you." He pulled out his rock n' roll guitar and played loud notes. So loud that trash seemed to magnetically become attracted to his guitar. With one last loud strum, the trash flew right at Mephiles.

Mephiles bent his legs and crossed his arms in front of him and waited. As the trash was close enough, he stretched his arms out and slashed trash with one clean swoop. A cutting beam appeared as the trash was sliced clean in half. "Is that the best you can do?" he asked as the trash fell apart.

Without answering, he charged at Mephiles with his guitar out like a sword, making a wordless battle cry. Mephiles just stood there, and didn't even flinch. He swung it hard at Mephiles' head, speed lines in the background emphasizing how fast it was moving, but it shattered against his diamond hard head. Yamkir groaned, seeing that he now needed a new guitar.

"Now that," Mephiles said as he dusted the broken pieces off him, "Was highly unnecessary."

"Then how bout this?" Yamkir said as he pulled out what looked like a glow stick and fired it from what was left of his guitar like a crossbow. It struck into the Mephiles' eyes directly. The demon hedgehog skid backwards before coming to a halt. Mephiles glowered as he rubbed his eyes while they steamed with white mist.

"Damn it," Mephiles glowered as he managed to get his sight back. "Now that hurt."

"Aw, does widdle Mephiles have a boo-boo?" Yamkir mocked. "Let me KICK it better!" He hopped on his board and raced for him again.

"You are irritating me, boy!" Mephiles snarled; his quills glowed with red light. _"Chaos…"_

"Yamkir! Fall back!" Maria shouted as she saw the glow.

"Hey man! Move it!" Larcen yelled.

"Yamkir no!" Kera screamed.

_"BLAST!"_

Mephiles let loose a red wave of destruction from his body. Yamkir saw it coming too late and shielded himself with his board. The board got vaporized in the blast and Yamkir was thrown to his stomach. In front of him, his chard board landed.

"Aw man," he groaned, "Now I need a new board too."

As the glow of his quills died down, Mephiles glared at Yamkir. "You will be the first to feel my wrath!" he shouted as he formed dark rainbow energy in his hand.

"No way!" Xion shouted as she arrived and stood in front of Yamkir and held her arms out. "I won't let you touch him!"

"So now another little girl wants to defy me?"

"Little girl?" Xion frowned. "I'm nineteen, you diamond-headed jackanape!"

"Shut up!" Mephiles yelled as he threw a purple Sonic Wind-like blade at them. Xion and Yamkir's pupils shrank as time seemed to slow down. The blade of Chaotic Energy that was flying at them was looking more like an omen of death at the moment. Everything seemed silent.

"No…" Kera could only whisper. First her mother, then her father, and now this…

That was when… something appeared in front of them. It collided with the blade before an explosion of loose rubble and smoke flew through the air. As the dust cleared, they found someone holding the attack.

He was a robot, around the same height as Jewels. The armor was in two shades of orange, with four curved, black spikes connected to each arm. He has a blue three-pronged crest on his forehead and bulbous light-blue eyes. He held the deadly blade in his hand, just before he tossed it aside.

"Looks like I'm a bit late," the robot said in a childish voice with his hands on his hips.

"Hey guys, its Emerl," Breezy smiled.

"Ah, so that's Emerl?" Samson blinked. "I pictured him to be a bit taller…"

Mephiles glared at the Gizoid. "So, you are the Mechanical Mirror, Emerl."

"And you're the time shifter, Mephiles," Emerl said with arms crossed. "Wow, you look like an ugly version of Shadow."

"I couldn't exist as strictly just a shadow, mind you," Mephiles said. "I needed to take a physical form to fully exist in this world. Shadow was the closest upon my release so I copied his shadow, no pun intended. Along with his appearance, I have also gained his thoughts and his memories. You can say that I am his dark side."

"His dark side?" Emerl questioned. "No wonder you're so ugly."

"Hurph!" Mephiles shouted as he fired five Chaos Spears to tear Emerl to pieces. But Emerl sparked with power and let out a flash to deflect them away.

"What?" Mephiles demanded. That was his power! How did this trash heap-

"There's a reason why I'm called the Mechanical Mirror," Emerl said as he waved his finger. "While you were flabbing with… whatever, I scan your body. Whatever you can do, I can now do better!"

"How dare you!" Mephiles yelled as he lunged at Emerl. Emerl curled into a ball and slammed into Mephiles. He kicked him into the air and fired several wind strikes to send him higher before landing. Mephiles instantly Chaos Controlled back to the ground to face the newcomer.

"You'll have to do better than that, old-timer!" Mephiles shouted as he sent more lethal blasts at him.

"Oh I intend to!" Emerl mocked, blocking the blasts with a shield. Using Sonic's speed, he dash Mephiles, warping back and forth while doing so. Enraged by all his taunting, Mephiles slammed his fist into the ground, creating an earthquake that was rushing for the speedy robot. Emerl quickly jumped for it. Mephiles, however, was anticipating that movement. He warped behind Emerl, put him in a vice-grip and began to swing him around before throwing him to the ground. Emerl rolled on his side as he crashed and quickly got back on his feet.

"Is that all you've got?" Mephiles yelled, landing a well place kick on Emerl's chest. Emerl skid to a crouch as he watched Mephiles charged at him. Mephiles began launching a series of sharp-edge kicks that created purple streaks as his legs moved. First one was a snap kick, next a roundhouse kick, then a back kick, and finally a double flip kick. Emerl managed not to get hit once, as even one kick was enough to cut through his armor.

Emerl did manage to block another one of Mephiles' incoming kicks with his right leg. "I'm not done yet!"Then he twirled around and sent a roundhouse kick at demon hedgehog's chest, making him stagger backwards. Then, mimicking Knuckles' movements, he plowed his fist into Mephiles' gut. At least that was what it looked like to the untrained eye. But to those who were trained or had special senses, it was fifty to one hundred high speed punches hitting him within seconds. Then he engulfed himself in fire and started to spin around before repeatedly slamming into Mephiles. This was one of Blaze's signature moves. When he stopped, he sent a powerful uppercut at the jaw, sending Mephiles into the sky once more.

"Now for an old time favorite!" Emerl shouted as he glowed in green light, unlike what happens to Larcen. Afterimages followed his arms as he waved them around, channeling his power. _"Light Speed Homing Spin!"_ He curled into a ball again and shot into the air, hitting Mephiles over and over again in a streak of green and blue. After a good seven seconds of a total of thirty-five strikes, he slammed the demon hedgehog down with an axe kick, making him crash to the floor.

Mephiles slowly got up as Emerl landed before him. "It would seem that my welcome has run out. Very well. We shall meet again. The sea of darkness and light will consume you!" And he Chaos Control away.

"Lightweight," he muttered before turning to his friends. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, that was a close one," Breezy smiled. Behind her, Maria was healing Jam and Kera. Robin was tending to Yamkir and Xion himself. "We might have not made it without you."

"Hey, no sweat."

"But how did you know what was going on?" Athena asked.

"Well… I didn't," Emerl admitted. "I was going to see the race here in Casino Park, but I kinda got lost. I'm assuming you guys won though, right?"

"We did…" Jewels muttered. "But Mephiles took our prize."

"And now he has four Chaos Emeralds," Marisa added.

"Wow, bummer…"

"Tell me about it," Breezy said.

Meanwhile, Team Rockers were also talking. "You could have gotten killed," Robin said.

"But if I didn't do something, Kera would have been killed," Yamkir reasoned.

"Well that was a real brave thing you did for her," Xion said with a soft glare. "But also pretty stupid… don't you know he could have killed you in a number of ways?"

"Uh…" Yamkir blushed a bit.

"I know you do crazy stuff sometimes… but try to be more careful," Xion pleaded.

"Well… I guess," Yamkir shrugged. Then Kera walked up to him after being healed by Maria. Before Yamkir could even say a word, she punched him across the face.

"Hey!" Yamkir demanded as he held his cheek. "What the!"

Kera gave him a hard look. "You scared the hell out of me! Bakayarou!" then she grabbed him in a tight hug. She didn't want to let him go. "Don't you dare do that again, understand?"

Yamkir just sighed as he returned the embrace.

"Aw, the joys of sisterly love," Robin smiled.

As they separated, the others reunited. "So what now?" Jazz asked.

"Well, I'm gonna have to get a new board. And a new guitar," Yamkir said. "You make sure Mephiles pays for messing with my stuff. Got it?"

"Will do," Samson nodded.

"So then this is good-bye?" Breezy asked.

Yamkir smirked. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Huh?" Marisa blinked.

"You are looking at the greatest Extreme Gear Riders in the world. We are Team Rockers!" Yamkir announced, as he and his friends turned their heads to the side with another bullwhip sound, as they had a moment to themselves. "We say good-bye to no one."

"That's right." Xion grinned. "So why don't you just butt out while you still can?"

"We got lots to do and so little time," Robin smiled.

"So, you can expect to see us again, losers. 'Good bye' is not in our vocabulary," and then he turned to Kera, "Especially not for you, sis. I'll see you around soon."

"Yeah," Kera smiled. "I look forward to it." With that said, Team Rockers got on their boards, same for Yamkir who got on Xion's board with her, and rode off.

"Wow, he's full of hot air," Larcen frowned with his arms folded.

"But at least he has a weakness. And her name is Kera," Marisa smirked.

"And what about you?" Breezy asked Jazz.

The hawk just waved his finger. "Expect to here more from us, Breezy the Hedgehog. You and I still have some unfinished business to settle." And the Children of Babylon got on their boards and flew away.

"Dually noted my purple feathered friend," she smiled.

"We have to be off, too," Jam said as he and Meiling got ready to leave. "We still have to get the other Master Emerald Shards. Let's be off Meiling."

The monkey nodded. With a wave, both jumped out of site.

"Ya know, there might be hope for Jam yet," Athena said with a braced grin.

"Yeah, I'll say," Jewels smiled. Then she made pretend tears as she wiped her face and a sunset appeared behind her. "I'm so proud! (sob!) My big bother's finally got a mate!"

"Yeah, cause you can't get one yourself, eh Jewels?" Breezy smiled.

"What did you say!" Jewels yelled as she broke from her moment. "You are dead, hedgehog!" she roared as she chased the laughing Breezy. Everyone else can't help but laugh as well.

* * *

Meanwhile in the confines of New Robotropolis, Snively was snoozing on his bed with a… magazine on his face. As he was snoring, his miniature computer rang. Subconsciously, he silenced it. Then it rang again. Growling, he silenced it again. Then it rang louder. Upset that his sleep was interrupted, he pressed the button and yelled, "WHAT?"

_"Well, it took you long enough,"_ Eggman Nega grunted from the screen.

Snively's eyes widened, then narrowed with a frown, "Alright old man, since you woke me up, let me ask you this: who are you?"

_"I am Eggman Nega," _he nodded, _"I'm your descendent from the future."_

"My descendent?" Snively blinked. "Well, time travel isn't impossible. I guess that's why you look like Uncle Ivo."

A vain appeared on Eggman Nega's head at being once again compared to his loathsome copy, but he maintained himself, _"I have called to ask for an alliance. One to help you collect the Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Sol Emeralds if you prefer."_

"Forget it old man," Snively said offhandedly. "All I wanted was to show my uncle that I'm as good as him. Nothing else matters." He was about to turn off the computer, but then Eggman Nega said something else.

_"What if I help capture that hedgehog girl for you?"_

Now THAT caught his attention.

"I'm listening…"

Eggman Nega smiled as he rubbed his hands, 'Too easy…'


	20. Get on the Train

**Ch 20: Get on the Train**

_"Newsflash: yesterday, the Casino Park was attacked by a mystery hedgehog who stole a Chaos Emerald that was meant to be given to the winning team of a race being held there. A group of young fighters managed to fend of the hedgehog before any major damage was done. As of now, there are no reported casualties and the injured are being treated in the Central City Hospital. Stay tune as we continue to give you more updates."_

The collected group sat around the television as the watched the news. Most were sitting on the chairs while some sat on the floor. Breezy had Gadget in front of her with her arms around him while Marisa did the same with Larcen. Athena was in the middle of the rug lying on her stomach with her feet dangling. Right now, they were being joined by Molly, Maria's best friend and Eli and Zed's same-aged aunt, and Emerl the Gizoid, who saved them from the manipulative and ambitious Mephiles the Dark. After having another Chaos Emerald taken from them, they decided to think up of another plan.

"Have you noticed something odd?" Kera spoke up.

"Odd? Like what?" Samson asked.

"Atlas, Rothion and Mephiles all said the same thing: 'The sea of darkness and light will consume you.' What do you thing they meant by that?" Kera said as she folded her arms and closed her eyes to ponder. "Nothing good can come out of those words."

"It might be some kind of warning," Emerl said as he held his chin. "Maybe it's part of their plan. But what is it that they could be after? Mephiles already said that he has nothing to do with the queen's disappearance. He might be lying though."

"There must be some kind of meaning behind those words," Violet wondered as she furrowed her eyebrows. "The sea, darkness and light must represent something. The darkness part must obviously be Mephiles, but what are the other two?"

"And what does the light have to do with anything?" Marisa nodded. "As I said before, Mephiles is weak against light."

"Not to mention…" Larcen stated. But then he was cut off by a knock on the door. The door opened and Jewels and Radian both walked in.

"So we lost four Chaos Emeralds now right?" Radian said.

"Oh, what brings you here?" Molly asked.

"Thanks to Commander Topaz's help, we managed to get the coordinates of the next Chaos Emerald," Jewels said with a smile.

"Well, we're is it?" Breezy asked.

"It's deep within the snowy mountains of White Acropolises," the white echidna told her.

"That's all the way on the other side of Soleanna!" Eli gasped. "And the weather is always freezing cold!"

"We don't have much of a choice," Radian shrugged.

"Luckily… we called in for some help," Jewels said as she opened the door wider.

* * *

The young heroes walked outside and found some people waiting for them: Cream the Rabbit (with her Hero and Dark Chaos, Cheese and Chocola), Charmy Bee, Shade the Echidna, Marine the Raccoon and Cosmo's elder sisters. "Ello, shellas!" Marine greeted.

"What are you guy's doing here?" Breezy said with a smile.

"Isn't it obvious?" Galaxina smirked. "You all really need our help now."

"After we saw the news about what happened in Casino Park and got the call from Jewels," Cream explained, "We all knew that things were only going to get more difficult for you from here on. Even if we all never faced this Mephiles the Dark before, we faced monsters that were just as bad as he is."

"So now we're going to help you in every way we can," Charmy smiled. "You guys may have Omega and Emerl with you, but you can never be too careful."

"Oh my…" Maria smiled slowly. "Thank you!"

"Now we can get our parents back in no time!" Athena grinned.

"And how are we supposed to get to White Acropolises?" Zed interrupted harshly. "We can't all fit into that plane. And the only way to get there is through the Radical Railroad."

"Don't worry about it," Daisy said with a smug look, "I have that covered. I happened to have built something that can get there in no time at all."

"You built it?"

Daisy smiled tensely at Violet's less than pleased looked. "Well, Violet did help." That was putting it mildly. Daisy drew out the prints, and then got help from her brother and sister. Mechanics was never her forte, though. Daisy was a hacking specialist, Violet was an expert researcher with her Gaia Library backing her up, and Gadget was the real mechanic. "Anyway, it's a super advanced, heavy armored, military based, transporter train. It's called the Thunder Trail!"

"Looks like we got our means of transportation," Kera smiled. "Come on, then. We can't waste anymore time."

One trip to Mystic Ruins later, everyone was underneath the Prower Workshop and got the Thunder Trail ready. The train itself was in Tails' favorite colors: blue and yellow. It was heavily armored and had several weapons ready just in case.

Inside the main car, Daisy and Violet was prepping the train by toggling the switches and twisting the knobs. "Is everyone ready?" Daisy asked over the intercom.

"We're all set!" Breezy responded back.

"Then let's get going!" Violet said as she pushed the lever, allowing the train to move.

The train went forward and headed into the main tracks. Destination: White Acropolises.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Radical Railroad, Skylark was pacing back and forth in front of another train. It looked like a combination of two different rides. Stopping in front of it, Skylark impatiently asked, "Isn't the main gun fixed, yet! It can't even hit the targets; shooting it once destroys the barrel! What kind of cannon is this supposed to be anyway?"

Underneath the train, Snively came out, all greased up and irritated. "I told you it's still under development! But oooh nooo, you just had to fire it, didn't you? You not only knocked out the gun, you disabled the main reactor as well!" He stood up and dusted himself off. "Anyway, it's fixed now so let's get a move on, shall we? At this rate, it'll be sunset before we get to White Acropolises!"

"It's bad enough that we don't have a single Chaos Emerald," Nack said as he looked down from the train. "But can't you people take this seriously?"

"You know what your problem is, weasel?" Snively said as he glared up at him. "Your problem is you're too serious, ya know? Besides, aren't you a little ashamed of yourself? I mean, a sniper like you getting trashed by a pretty girl and her misfit friends!"

_"Come on, you imbeciles!"_ Eggman Nega shouted on the speakers. _"We don't have much time left! And you, Skylark, stop your whining and start acting like a man!"_

Skylark growled as he turned his back and shook his fist, "Why am I putting up with this guy?" he muttered hotly to himself. "Who does he thinks he is anyway, talking to me like that? I just want some money! Is that too much to ask! If we don't then those blasted Mejele are going to cause hell for us!"

Inside one half of the train, Moana was double checking the systems when she heard all the commotion. She sighed to herself as she closed her eyes, "This is what happens when we don't have any money... we have to scrounge for parts to build our machines, and we have to ally ourselves with people like that... we'll never win like this..."

"Hey people!" Bean shouted as he looked at the radar, "There's another train coming!"

"What?" Eggman Nega shouted. "What is it?"

"It's those guys again! They must have a train of their own!"

"Is that so?" Eggman Nega sneered, "Hehehehehe! Well then, let us give them a warm welcome!"

"Just so you know…" Snively said as he stepped in Nega's part of the train, "You and I are still not on friendly terms… even though you are my descendant and all."

"Yes, yes, we will deal with that later," Eggman Nega waved it aside. "We shall work out the agreements once we all have what we want." 'And by WE, I mean ME,' he thought sinisterly to himself. "For now, we all have a common enemy. Are you ready?"

"And please, do try to keep up, Skylark," Snively said on the intercom after he sat down.

"Shut up, boy!" Skylark snapped as he and Nack took their seats. "I'll make you eat those words, soon enough!" He waved his arm as he gave the command. "I don't want to see any slacking-let's move out!"

"We are ready to move at anytime!" Moana conformed.

"Very well!" the Robotniks said in unison. "Battle-stations! Egg Express: full speed ahead!"

* * *

As the Thunder Trail was speed to its destination, everyone decided to pass the time by talking about themselves.

"So, Aunt Cream," Maria, "How are your art exhibits going?"

"Very nice, really," the namesake-colored rabbit smiled, "I've already managed to sell several of my work to some bidders. I was very surprised to see how much money I made from just three portraits."

"Wow, that's quite amazing," Kera said. "I'm guessing you liked to draw a lot of pictures in your youth."

"I did!" Cream laughed. "I always loved to draw. And now I can make something out it!"

"Hey, Charmy," Athena asked. "Why aren't Vector and Espio with you?"

"Oh," Charmy began. "Vector is busy in New York helping out with some rookie detectives, and Espio is training in Japan. Sorry, they couldn't come."

"I see."

"S-so, how are you doing?" Gadget asked his aunts shyly.

"Well, Earth sure does of something neat things you can do here," Starla said. "It isn't as pretty as SeedriusFlora and the technology is slightly outdated, but it is nice."

"Cosmo as been doing wonderfully though," Chrysanthemum added. "She's becoming quite the inventor herself."

"Well, I guess our baby sister managed to pick up a few things from her little fox!" Sunseed giggled.

"Yeah, she's lucky," Galaxina smiled, "I really hope we can find a nice guy like him for ourselves."

"But what about you, Shade?" Starla said as she looked at the peach echidna. "I thought you and Knuckles we're going to go steady for sure."

"So did I, for a minute there," Shade said, "But I could tell that he had feelings for Rouge. I could tell from the way they always argued and how she always messes with him. But I'm sure I'll get someone for my own."

"Don't worry, Aunt Shade," Jewels said. "You aren't alone in that."

"What did I say about calling me that?" she growled. "It makes me feel old."

"But… you ARE old," Cream pointed out softly. Shade instantly snapped her head to her and gave a death glare. "Sorry!" the rabbit winced.

"Everybody!" Daisy called on the intercom, "There's something in front of us! It looks like another train!"

Breezy reached over and pressed their side of the intercom. "So? Let them pass. It isn't that big of a deal."

"The train isn't a friendly looking one, Breeze," Violet said. "It looks to be like two trains in one."

"Wait a minute… the designs look very familiar…"

"Yeah… hey wait! That symbol! It's Eggman Nega!"

"What!" everyone gasped.

"Eggman Nega!" Cream gasped. "He's still alive!"

"I thought them fellas took car' of em!" Marine exclaimed.

"Well he's still alive and he's been seething all these years," Jewels said. "What's the other half? You said there were two trains."

"The other one… is the Dynamite Syndicate!" Daisy said.

"So they teamed up, huh?" Athena frowned. "Should'a seen it coming."

"Now what?" Larcen groaned as they heard cracking on the speakers.

"Hehehehehe!" Nega's voice cackled gleefully on the speaker of the first enemy train. It was green in color and had three bomb cannons, an upper machine gun and one huge cannon slightly hidden. "How have you been, my friends? If you are planning to get the sixth Chaos Emerald from White Acropolises then I am afraid your luck has just run out! Cannons ready… FIRE!"

With those words, the cannons fired bombs right at the Thunder Trail. They hit instantly and the train began to rumble. Everyone inside fell out of their seats.

"Ouch!" Galaxina winced as she rubbed the flower on her head. "Talk about dajavu!"

"The train has emergency weapons, right?" Starla said as she got up. "Where are they?"

"Daisy and I have most of the controls over the weapons," Violet said over the intercom. "But some weapons are hidden underneath the seats. It seems that we have to fight them in order to pass."

"Careful!" Daisy warned, "If the train takes to much damage, its game over!"

Kera pulled her seat over and found some switches and knobs underneath. Curious, she pulled down one of the switches.

Outside from underneath the Thunder Trail, a few guns popped out and began shooting plasma shots at the Egg Express. However, it didn't seem to do that much damage.

"Is that the best you can do?" another voice from the speaker sneered.

"Crud!" Breezy frowned. "That dip Snively is here too!"

"So all of them teamed up this time," Maria added. "This is going to…"

"Suck?" Athena said helpfully.

"Oh yes."

"We still have a way to beat them," Chrysanthemum said. "If we take out all of their weapons, that will leave them defenseless. If we are luckily, we might even find a main energy source."

"Good enough," Violet said. "Alright, we'll take it from here!"

"Incoming bombs!" Daisy alerted.

"I have that covered!" Violet said as she pushed two buttons and pulled a lever. Outside, a pistol appeared and began to shot at the cannons and bombs. The bombs were all blown away and the cannons were given damage. Violet pulled down on the same lever and released it after holding on to it for a short moment. The pistol powered up and fired a much stronger shot at the cannons and destroyed them.

"Now look at what happened!" they heard Snively scold at someone, "I told you we needed more armor plates!"

"Hmm, looks like they aren't so cooperative after all," Shade smirked.

"And while their train is super strong, their weapons aren't," Cream nodded. "This is starting to feel like old times… if we take out those weapons…."

"Way ahead of you!" Breezy smiled as she took off a panel and pressed some buttons.

Missiles appeared on top of the Thunder Trail and two fired out. The missiles streaked through the air before hitting and destroying another set of weapons.

"Stop that!" Eggman Nega shouted.

"I'll blast you to bits!" Snively yelled as a pair of machine guns opened fired. The plasma shots rapidly struck the train before destroying the pistol that was used earlier.

"Oh darn!" Daisy frowned.

"Don't worry about it," Violet said, "We still have plenty more. However, they're almost out of weapons."

"So keep destroying the weapons! Got it!" pressing some commands on the keyboard, she had to disk launchers fire and slice the machine guns clean off.

"Grrr… no more Mr. Nice Guy!" Snively yelled as the huge laser cannon popped out and began to charge up in yellow light.

"Wow! That's a high-heated-sable-round power cannon!" Gadget gawked as he saw it. "If we get hit by that, we're toast!"

"Then what can we do?" Maria asked.

"I know!" Athena smiled. "Bubblegun!"

"Bubblegun?" Breezy said with an arched eyebrow.

"Watch!" she opened another panel and pulled the lever. Outside, an odd looking gun appeared on the side and seemed to inhale as it charged up.

"Nighte night!" Snively cackled as the cannon prepared to fire. But before it could, the bubblegun spit out a huge glob of gum and sealed up the nozzle. With no where else to escape, the cannon was forced to blow up from the inside, taking a portion of the train with it. The Egg Express caught up in flames instantly.

"Alright! Good job!" Galaxina cheered.

"Let's hope that this will teach them a lesson!" Charmy grinned.

* * *

Inside the first car, Skylark wore a grim look on his face, but inwardly, he was grinning. "I am… sorry Robotniks," he said slowly, "I don't have any choice!"

"What are you babbling about now?" Snively demanded before he realized what was going on, "Wait! Do not…!"

"We won't forget you!" Skylark saluted, "Robotnik clan, good luck!"

"See you around," Nack smirked.

"Moana, do it!" Skylark ordered.

The pirate technician obeyed and pulled down a lever, "Releasing the Egg Express!"

* * *

"What do you think you're doing!" Eggman Nega demanded as he stood up. The rumbling and shaking of the car got worse before he and Snively felt themselves being pulled back. "Oof!" Eggman Nega grunted as he fell on his back.

Snively gritted his teeth as he held tight on his seat. He could believe it. He was going down like this! Him! The successor of the Eggman Empire! "Bloody pirates…I'll get you for this, Skylark…!" he swore as the train began to fall of the track.

**KA-BOOOM!**

**

* * *

**

"Dahahahahaha!" Bean laughed insanely as they saw the Egg Express blow up. "Sayonara, Eggheads!"

"Did they really think that we were going to fall for their double-cross?" Skylark grinned as he folded his hands. "Eggman has done it many times before. It's only natural that I expected it from those two."

"So basically, you crossed them before they crossed us," Nack grinned.

"That's right," Skylark smiled.

"OK," Moana smirked as she leaned back on her chair. "That takes care of the Robotniks. Now, we have to fall back, and regroup. Full steam ahead, Gomoncha!"

* * *

"Did you see that?" Sunseed exclaimed after they saw the explosion, "They just let them go!"

"And from the looks of things, the pirates are not finished with us yet," Starla added as she pointed pointed. "Look!"

Everyone saw a new train right ahead of them: it was red in color with plenty of more weapons than the Egg Express. It was armed to the teeth with loads of missiles. It did have a plasma cannon, but it looked broken. Some armored robots were doing some work on it.

"Oi vey!" Maria gulped.

"Double darn it!" Kera cursed as the speaker of the Gomoncha started to crack.

"So you managed to defeat the Egg Express, did you?" Skylark sneered on the speaker. "Humph. No problem, we didn't need those dopes anyhow."

"Let's show you what this baby can do!" Moana yelled as the first set of missile launchers popped up and fired.

"Incoming missiles!" Violet alerted. The missiles made impact and a couple of the weapons got blown off from the Thunder Trail.

"Hey! You know how much time it took us to put this thing together?" Daisy shouted as she regained her footing.

"I am afraid they don't exactly care, my sister," Violet said as her world stopped spinning. "But we can make them pay for it tenfold. There's a compartment on the left hand corner. Open it and flip the switch." Daisy nodded. She went there and did what was asked.

Outside, a flexible-looking cannon appeared and fired three shots. The first sets of missile launchers were destroyed.

"Ow!"

"Oonga, that cannon's really good!" Daisy exclaimed.

"It is, isn't it?" Violet grinned. "Unfortunately, it has to charge before it can be used again."

"How long is that?"

"About it minute."

"But it'll be blown off by then!"

"Did you see the throttle next to the switch?" Daisy nodded. "It's there to control cannon. Just keep it from getting hit and it will fire again."

"Oh, I get it."

Just as some missiles fired at the cannon, Daisy quickly grabbed the joystick and twisted to the side. The cannon mimicked the movements, completely avoiding the attacks.

"That's great!" Violet grinned foxily, "Just keep it up until the cannon charges up again!"

"Got it, sis!" Daisy nodded as she continued to move the stick.

Daisy continued to move the cannon around as it continued to power up. Some of the shots barely missed. After another minute, the cannon fired some more shots, destroying some more weapons.

"The cannon's fix!" they heard Moana shout.

"Fire at will!" Skylark ordered.

The huge cannon began to charge in blue light and then fired. As it was too big for the plasma cannon to avoid, the shot destroyed it, not leaving a single trace behind.

"Oh no!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Hang on, we're catching up to it!" Violet said as she slowly turned the knob to make the Thunder Trail gain speed. "Daisy, that cannon of theirs is going to give us trouble unless we take it out. Use the rocket cannon to blast it away!"

"Right!"

Slowly but surely, the trains met up side by side. "This is perfect! Daisy, now!"

"OK!" Daisy said as she went to a "Do Not Touch Unless Needed" button. She broke the glass with a small solar ray and pressed the button.

A red rocket rose from the top of the Thunder Trail and launched into the air. It flew around for a bit before crashing into the plasma cannon with full force. Not only was the cannon destroyed, but also a portion of the Gomoncha blew up in flames.

"ARRG!" Nack yelled as it all happened.

"Another hit?" Skylark snarled. "What kind of firepower are the packing on that toy model train?"

"Alright, great job!" Molly cheered.

"We almost got them! Just a little bit more!" Sunseed added.

Suddenly, something crashed in from the windows, almost making the passengers jump. They took a closer a look and saw that it was a black and red wind-up toy. But it wasn't just anyway wind-up toy…

"It's a bomb!" Marisa shrieked.

"It must be their last ditch forward!" Kera gasped. And then more toy bombs came flying out the window.

"Everyone! Throw out all the bombs!" Larcen ordered. Everyone pitched in and started to fling all the bombs out of the window. Several explosions could be heard outside as the bombs fell into the valleys. Athena's psychokinesis and Gadget's electromagnetokinesis were big helps, but it didn't seem to be doing enough.

"There's too many of them!" Gadget whined as more bombs began to fly in.

"Keep trying! We have to get them all out of here!" Athena shouted as she tossed five of the bombs out.

"Shoot! Bloody pirates!" Galaxina cried as she threw two more out.

Back in the conductor's room, the twins heard all of the commotion.

"This is getting out of hand," Violet told her. "We have to finish this now!"

"Gotcha!" Daisy nodded. She twisted the big red button a little, and pressed it again.

Another missile, a green one, appeared and fired right at the core, which was exposed from the first missile. It made impact the whole thing erupted in explosions. The pirate train began to slow down instantly.

After the passengers cleared out the last bomb, the saw the explosions of train behind them. The all sighed in relief, the train fight now over.

* * *

Inside the train, everything began to malfunction. The controls were all down and monitors were all on fire. The warning siren was up and blaring, but Skylark could care less about it at the moment.

"Ooooh, here we go again. I'm tired of this!" he growled in his frustrated voice.

"YAAAAA, I'M ON FIRE!" Bean wailed as he ran by with his tail feathers on fire.

"Skylark! We've gotta get outta here!" Moana warned.

With nothing left to do, he made a warning to his rivals. "Listen to me, you little twerps! You haven't heard the last from us! I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I-!"

* * *

**KA-BOOOM!**

The Gomoncha erupted in one final explosion before it became one big bonfire. The Thunder Trail disengaged all weapons now that the fight was over.

"That takes care of that," Breezy smirked as she dusted her hands.

"Now all we have to do is get the sixth Chaos Emerald," Raiden said with a nod. "Then we can get the last one and get to the bottom of this.

"Si, piece of cake," Samson smiled.

"Alright then, now we can get back on track," Daisy said as the train speed up. "White Acropolises, here we come!"

As the train entered the snowy mountains, one lone figure watched them go by as he stood on a tree branch. Rubbing his chin, the Blue Phantom thought to himself.

"Hmmm…."


	21. Chilling Feet

**Ch 21: Chilling Feet**

By sunset, the Thunder Trail pulled into the snowy mountains of the White Acropolises. The frozen hills were absolutely freezing. The gentle bliss of snow fell from the sky as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. Luckily, the repairs to the train were made from the fight, but it still didn't help with the cold weather.

"Well, it took longer than expected," Kera was saying, polishing her Dragon Sword, "But we made it."

"Brrr…." Athena shuddered as she tried to use her flames to keep warm. "I really don't like cold environments. I should have brought a jacket."

"I suppose this is a bad time to say 'chill out,'" Jewels quipped as she rubbed her arms together, white puffs coming from her mouth as she spoke. "But it's just the cold, right? The soon we find that Chaos Emerald, the sooner we can leave."

"She's right," Marisa added as she too used her flames to keep warm, "Just think about a day at the beach. It's what I do."

"In the meantime, I managed to make some hot coco for everyone," Cream smiled as she came with a tray of smoking mugs. "This should keep as warm while we're in White Acropolises."

"I'll have some!" Eli piped pleasantly as she took a mug.

"Whatever," Zed shrugged as took another.

"Thank you kindly, ma'm," Radian smiled as he, Jewels, Sunseed and Larcen took their mugs and had a sip.

"Ubber bonzer, mate!" Marine added before enjoying her cup.

"No worries," Cream said cheerfully as several other hands took more mugs, "It's what I do best."

Charmy took a gulp of his coco before sighing with a flush on his cheeks. "Wow, you never disappoint," he smiled at her.

"You got that right, hun," she smiled back as she went over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Man, you guys don't know how lucky you are," Emerl chuckled. "Omega and I can't eat or drink. Kinda sucks to be a robot sometimes."

"Sure, cause its bad luck to have circuits in your body," Shade joked humorously.

Cream smiled at her friends' conversation, and then noticed Maria leaning on the window, looking at the snow. Shrugging, she walked over.

"Hot chocolate?" she offered one of two last mugs with her usual sweet smile.

"Oh my," Maria blinked as she turned to her. Smiling back, she took one of the cups. "Thank you," she smiled as they clanked both cups together and drank.

"So," Cream began after she licked the chocolate liquid from her lips, "What on your mind?"

"Well…" Maria looked down as she shuffled her boot, "For the past several days, we have done nothing but fighting. Is this what's going to happen from here on? Is this a dawn of a war?"

Cream could see exactly were she was coming from. "That's right. You don't approve of violence, correct?"

Maria nodded.

"Let me let you in on a little secret." Cream closed her eyes as she looked back into her memories. "A few days after Sonic found Emerl in Emerald Coast, Eggman kidnapped me and him to be used as leverage over Sonic, again. While we were looking for a way out of Eggman's base, we encounter some unfriendly robots that the doctor instructed to watch over us. While Emerl eagerly welcomed the challenge, I didn't want any part of it. When Emerl asked why I didn't fight back, I told him about my philosophy of pacifism. He didn't understand at first, but when he saw me crying, he realized that the violence really upset me.

Her eyes opened as she turned to Maria again. "We then came across a robot called Chaos Gamma, who was almost like Omega. Chaos Gamma began to attack Emerl brutally, who did nothing to defend himself. That was when I realized that Emerl wasn't fighting back because he didn't want to make me cry again. Mustering up the valor I had, I managed to fend of Chaos Gamma and I beat him too! And Emerl and I escaped the base. So you see Maria, sometimes we have to fight, even if we don't want to, in order to protect the ones we love. Hate the war, but not the battle. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Maria thought for a moment. She knew that Cream was a peace keeper like she was. But she didn't know that she became more resolved with fighting when it called for it. She didn't realize it, but she too became more resolved with fighting as the days went by, especially when her friends were being threatened.

"I suppose you're right," Maria said finally.

"Good girl," Cream smiled as she patted her on the back.

"Alright folks," Violet said on the intercom, "We'll be stopping shortly. Some of us we'll take a look around while the rest of you will stay and follow us. But don't get too close, we need to stay vigilant."

"And thanks for the hot chocolate again, Aunt Cream!" Daisy exclaimed. "It was delicious!"

Once the train came to a complete stop, the team composing of Breezy, Gadget, Maria, Athena, Omega, Larcen, Marisa, Kera, Samson, Jewels, Radian and Emerl hopped into knee deep snow. Radian and Omega scouted the area before giving the green light.

"No hostel lifeforms detected," Omega said callously.

"For now," Radian said as he placed his shades on, "I'm sure we have company waiting for us."

Breezy stretched her long leg behind her back to get the stiffness out, "Then we'd better get a move on. We don't want to get beaten to the sixth Emerald."

"Hey, hold up," Cream called as she, her two chao, Shade, Marine and the twins jumped out of the train and sank into the snow.

"So you guys want in, too?" Larcen smiled.

"You betcha!" Daisy smiled as she adjusted her brown backpack. Violet was wearing another backpack that was different from her sister's, "It's been kinda boring staying in doors…."

"We're just coming with you," Violet said, stopping her sister from rambling off again by slapping a hand on her mouth. "And don't worry; we're armed."

"Alright then," Jewels nodded laconically. "Come on."

Jewels and the others trudged towards the mountains, but hiking through the knee-deep snow made them going slow, and the cold winds didn't help either. "Why couldn't their have been a Chaos Emerald in a nice warm place? Like Sydney?" Samson grumbled.

"Alright, alright, so it's not a winter wonderland," Kera grunted to him. "Sheesh... suck it up!"

Suddenly, Samson stumbled and fell, catching Maria in the back and taking her down into the snow with him. "Ow, ow, ow..." he groaned as he got up. "I'm sorry, Senorita Maria... are you alright?" he asked.

Maria pulled herself up; her face was covered with heavy amounts of snow. "...Ho, ho, ho," she chuckled humorously.

* * *

About half an hour later, the team of friends reached a huge iron gate. From the looks of it, it was never opened, and it was quite aged too. The one thing they noticed most of all was that there was a very familiar symbol on the gate.

"Well, what do you know?" Emerl remarked. "Look's like Eggman never found any use for this base."

"Man, that guy was so prepared for anything," Athena stated. "I wonder what he wanted to use this for?... Alright. Dumb question."

"So how do we get in?" Gadget asked.

"Knock maybe?" Marisa asked, feeling a little foolish for saying that.

"Why not?" Shade shrugged. "Ready, Jewels?"

The younger echidna nodded. Both walked up to the metal gate, side by side, before stopping in front of either doors. Like mirrors, both echidnas reared their fists back before throwing them at the gate. The doors smashed opened from the impact, the grinding, groaning and clashing of metal filling everyone's ears.

"I love doing that," Jewels smirked as she shook her hand.

"We're crossing forbidden territory now," Radian said as he pulled out his gun, "Stay frosty."

"A bad time to say that, don't you think?" Shade said, activating the helmet of her cybernetic armor.

As the group walked into the abandoned base, they failed to notice two pair of eyes watching. Standing on a metal tower were Rothion and Darcy, who have also come looking for the sixth Emerald.

"So they refuse to give up," Darcy uttered as she looked down at them like ants. "And they have new friends. I do wonder how things will turn out this time."

"The new allies of the heroes shall not be a problem!" Rothion snickered. "Besides… I have just the thing to end them once and for all. And then, Lord Mephiles shall take what is rightfully his and he will give what is rightfully ours." Rothion grinned as he clenched his fist. "Soon we will finally-"

"Quiet! They'll hear you!"

"The heroes?"

"No. Them."

"Them who?"

Darcy pointed to a certain direction. After Rothion looked at that direction, he grinned in a silly manner at…. you.

"Ah, yes… I forgot about them. Now, shall we be off?"

"Just don't spoil anything."

The evil duo turned around and jumped off the tower.

* * *

The team of heroes walked deeper into the base. It was such a surprise that nothing had change there. The courtyard was big and wide, the deactivated searchlights seemed almost out of date, and there was no sign of any life. The wind was pretty much gone due to the mountain walls blocking the wind.

Emerl couldn't help but make an electronic whistle. "Seems no one stepped foot in here for a very long time."

Shade scanned the area with her visor lens, getting no traces of life. "I suppose since the Flames of Disaster was erased, Eggman didn't use this place at all. But…"

"But?" Kera asked her.

She was about to continue when she noticed Breezy walking forward, looking around. Her eyes widened behind her helmet as she saw the teenaged purple hedgehog's feet just inches away from an inferred red beam. "Wait!"

"Wha?" Breezy blinked as she stopped. But that was in vain since she crossed the beams.

Sirens began to blare as various robots appeared from different areas of the courtyard. All of them were white and black in color and the varied in shapes and sizes. The team huddled up together as they found themselves surrounded.

"I've never seen these kinds of robots before!" Cream exclaimed.

"But what happened? I though this place was abandoned!" Maria said.

"Eggman had basic security systems that were prepared to ambush any intruder that came without clearance," Omega elaborated. "Even to this day, the security systems were still active."

"So this place is still alive?" Athena grimaced. "That's peachy."

"They're going to fire!" Larcen shouted as the guns aimed at them. "Everyone scatter!"

And they did just that as all of the robots opened fire.

With astounding grace, Shade flipped in the air before landing in front of four robots. She pulled out her purple blade and set it to Attack Mode. She slashed at the incoming robots, cutting them cleanly. She then charge forward right for the other approaching robots. She landed a few kicks and punches before slicing their heads off. Some of the robots had already begun to shoot at her with their laser guns. Shade jumped backwards and land some feet away to avoid getting holes in her body. Then she rushed back in with her sword defecting the shots. A microsecond later, she rushed in and sliced all the robots in two. "Ha! There's no strength in numbers!"

Breezy, Gadget and Larcen dashed all around the courtyard in blurs of purple, green and jungle green, smashing into the robots like wacky pinballs. After coming to a stop, Breezy began to twist around with the freezing wind surrounding her. _"Turbo Tornado!"_ she called as she tuned into a purple cyclone. She dashed into several robots and picked them up with her storm. Clanks and clashing noises could be heard in the winds. When she stopped into turned back into a hedgehog; the robots crashed around her into scrapheap.

"I got ten in one shot!" Breezy boasted at Larcen. "Beat that!"

Larcen smirked as the aura around him grew brighter, taking up her challenge. He rushed around some robots in a bright blur, taking them in his wind speed. He halted and the robots still came at him. Pivoting his foot he jumped at them and made a shout. He spun his leg around with the winds appearing around him. Each robot met its end in Larcen's powerful kick.

"Terminate!" Omega roared soullessly as he slashed his claws and fists at the enemy robots. He jumped into the air and fired missiles at the other robots below him. All were destroyed completely by the deadly attack wave. Once Omega landed, he found more robots confronting him. "Though they aged as I and yet have no will, they are resilient," he stated.

"I'll handle this, amigo!" Samson shouted as he jumped over them and fired red kinetic shots at all robots. All the blasts erupted in huge explosions. As Samson landed and the smoke cleared, no robot was left standing.

"Peace of cake," the Mexican swallow smirked.

"Focus at the task at hand," Omega said as he walked to meet the next wave of robots.

"Yeah, yeah," Samson shrugged, loading fresh shot pellets into his guns.

More of the robots were suddenly through into the searchlight towers and were crushed underneath as they fell. Athena lowered her arms as her palms dimmed, having been the one to throw them into the towers. "Hey, Aunt Cream!" she called at the rabbit, "How are you holding out?"

Cream managed to kick another robot out of her face before calling back. "It's been a long time since I did this! I forgot how hard this was!" Cream noticed another robot coming at her from behind. She turned as her boots suddenly sparked with yellow electricity and sent a sparkling roundhouse kick. The robot staggered backwards as if spark, shutting down moments later. "Cheese! Chocola! I need you!" her two Chao flew next to her as she pointed her palms at both of them. Cream used her electric power to make both of them shine in electricity (Cheese in white electricity and Chocola in black). "Here we go!" Cream proclaimed as her long ears started to flap and pick her up from the snowy ground. She and her two Chao flew forward in sparks of yellow, white and black. They dashed into the robots, destroying each one of them. The momentarily stopped their rampage as they hovered into the air and looked at their damage.

"That's better," the rabbit nodded. "Now for the rest."

More robots moved in and began firing at Emerl, whom didn't hold anything back as he ran at them with Sonic's speed. He curled into a spinball and smashed into the first droid in his path, crushing it in like tin. Bouncing up on the rebound, he uncoiled and coiled his right hand as it shined with yellow Chaos Energy. "Take this!" he yelled as he fired blasts of Shadow's Chaos Spear like a storm. None of them stood any chance. He curled up into a ball again and smashed into more robots that came his way. He uncoiled again and skid to a stop. "Ready for the junkyard," he "smirked" as he stood up.

As the team moved deeper into the base, more robots came closer. Several glowing rings flew at them and explode in flashes of light. As it cleared, several robots were shown to be turned to scrap.

"Good thing we got the Dummy Ring Bombs with us," Violet smiled as she trilled the ring around her finger.

"Don't relax just yet!" Jewels shouted as she threw flame punches out of her fist. More robots were destroyed from the attack.

"Right!" Maria nodded as she added her Chaos Blooms while Marisa joined her with lighting shots. Another wave was gone.

"Hah!" Kera yelled as she added a fire blast of her own from her sword, making the smoldering pile wider.

_"Phoenix Blade!"_ Radian yelled as his arms engulfed in fire as he charged in. He slammed his arms down, creating a huge firestorm. Everyone shielded themselves from the sudden heat, but it was quite good to get a small break from the cold. Once the heat died down, not a drone was left. Most of the snow melted as well.

"Nothing but net," Marisa chirped as the electricity fuzzed out from her hands.

"The Emerald should be somewhere within the base," Maria explained.

"Good, that makes six down and one more to go," Athena nodded.

"But what about the other Emeralds that Mephiles has?" Kera asked.

"We'll figure out a way," Breezy shrugged.

"We'll think of it when the time comes," Radian agreed.

With all said and done, they walked to the entrance of the base. Unfortunately, they were stopped by blasts of dark energy. Jumping backwards, the attackers landed in front of them. This turned out to be Rothion and Darcy.

"So you've come," Kera frowned as she raised her sword.

"It has been a long time," Darcy smiled. "I see you all still haven't made any progress."

"No thanks to your boss!" Breezy hissed.

"Hnn," Rothion smirked. 'Why don't you all give up while you are still alive? Resistance is futile."

"Not happening!" Larcen shouted as clenched his fist.

"Too bad for you then," Darcy shrugged. Then she snapped her fingers. Out of the glow of dark matter, came a huge, hulking giant. It was made up of, with the head being nothing more than a round pillar with a single glowing green eye. It had no hands though and the limbs looked sharp. It was a big as Atlas too.

"Meet the Freeze Cyclops," Darcy introduced. "He will show you the true meaning of chill factor!"

"Chill factor, huh? Well, I'm blazing inside, long ears," Athena growled as a red aura appeared around her, "Are you ready for some heat in the third degree?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there came the loudest snarl that any of them has heard. Everyone, Rothion and Darcy included, looked around in surprise to find where it came from. They didn't wait long, for a large red and white robot bounded over the side gates and let out a wolf like snarl. It looked like a dog with three eyes. Fifty diamond hard fangs appeared from its mouth. Several "fins" were seen on its back and it even had a search light on its nose.

"What is that?" Daisy gaped.

Omega recognized it. "That is the E-2500. Codename: Egg Cerberus."

"Egg Cerberus?" Violet questioned. "Last time I checked, a Cerberus composed of three heads. Not one."

"Look on its head!" Marisa pointed.

Everyone looked at Marisa's direction and looked on in shock. There on the Egg Cerberus' forehead, the yellow Chaos Emerald shined.

"Humph," Rothion snorted. "We did not expect this… but this will not change anything! Freeze Cyclops, destroy that junkyard mutt and take the Chaos Emerald!"

The Freeze Cyclops obeyed, roaring as it charged. The Egg Cerberus spotted him and charged at full speed. Both giants collided. The Egg Fenrir managed to pounce on the Freeze Cyclops, but the latter tossed it off and stomped back onto its feet. It ran forward and collided into the robo-dog again. Only now, the Egg Cerberus slipped out of the Freeze Cyclops' grasp.

After watching the giant death match for a short while, Maria gasped as she realized something. "We can't let them get the Chaos Emerald!"

"Way ahead of you!" Jewels nodded. "You, Breezy and Athena take care of that giant dog and the rest of us will handle the not-so-jolly-blue-giant. Gadget, you and your sisters get to a safe distance."

"Good luck!" The Prower Siblings nodded as they ran out of the danger zone and back to the waiting train.

"Juice n' jam time!" Breezy cheered as she curled and speed into the giant battle. Athena and Maria were close behind. Breezy jumped up high and knocked both away from each other with her Homing Spin. As the Egg Cerberus landed on its side, the trio landed in front of it.

"Ready?" Amethyst Cyclone smiled at her friends.

"Ready!" the New Ultimate Lifeform and the Psycho Solider smiled back.

"Let's go!" she said as the three went for the Egg Cerberus.

"Alright, good job!" Marisa cheered as the others went for the recovering Freeze Cyclops. A sudden blade attack went in front of Larcen and Marisa, cutting them off from the others. Looking to their right, they saw Rothion and Darcy approach.

"You two are not going to get away," Darcy frowned as her eyes flashed for a moment.

Larcen and Marisa tensed. "You ready?"

"Always am," Marisa smirked cheekily.

Thus the three fights began.

Athena flew at the Egg Cerberus in a summersault, unrolling herself and fired blasts of flames at the robotic dog, but it didn't do much good as the armor withstood, although charred. Maria rushed up next, focusing her geokinesis to throw frozen stones at the Egg Cerberus' face. The armor withstood, and Maria couldn't get the eye as the Egg Cerberus wouldn't hold still long enough to get a good shot. As it slightly retreated, Egg Cerberus jumped off a wall and charged at the girls in full force.

"Uh oh!" Breezy gulped. "Twist and shout, people!"

The three daughters of legends scattered like cockroaches in a lighted room, just as the Fenrir pounced on where they were. They flew across the arena and skidded to a halt in a crouch. All three looked up to see the approaching Egg Cerberus.

"What shall we do now?" Maria frowned.

"Maybe there's some kind of weak spot that this thing has," Athena said, not taking her eyes off the robot. "But where do we look?"

As Breezy watched the robot, she noticed a strange horn coming out of its head. After think quickly, she dashed up to the Egg Cerberus, surprising Maria and Athena. Avoiding the robot's jaws, she threw a hardened snowball at the face to distract it. Reaching the tail, she found the rails that made up its tail. Not thinking twice, she dashed onto it and grinded between the shoulders and at the last second grabbed the horn. Just like before, the Egg Cerberus went berserk, and it stampeded around the room, making sharp turns at random. Breezy held firm, using the heels of her sneakers and anchors on the horn to keep from falling. As a wall approached with alarming speeds, she jumped off and did a black flip to show off. The Egg Cerberus rammed into the wall with a deafening crash. It rose sluggishly and proceeded around, shaken but still out to complete its objective to stop the invaders.

"Guys!" Breezy shouted as she landed. "That horn is the weak spot. Let's give it all we've got!"

"You got it!" Maria nodded as she and Athena joined in.

Meanwhile, Jewels, Neo, Kera, Samson, Omega, Cream, Marine and Shade were dealing with the Freeze Cyclops. The monster was as tough as it looked, and fire attacks didn't even seem to do much against it. Shade lunged at the monster with her blade set on Leech Mode. She slashed furiously at it, hoping to drain its power. However, the Freeze Cyclops slammed its arm into her, making her crash into the snow. Shade clenched her fangs painfully behind her mask as she struggled to get back up.

Marine tried to get some clear shots by shooting green energy blasts from her hands, but that didn't do anything either. A blue glow erupted from the Freeze Cyclops' chest and twisted into a swirl. Soon, huge icicles came flying toward Marine. She managed to back up quickly to avoid getting hit. The Cyclops continued the assault by slamming its fist at her. All that got crushed were the icicles as Marine jumped to the arm and began to go for the head. Unfortunately, the Cyclops shook her too and she rolled over to the side.

"Blimey!" Marine exclaimed as she stood up, "Is that ice made a steel or somethin'? We con't do anythin'!"

_"Phoenix Blade!"_ Radian called as he flew at the Freeze Cyclops as a burning missile. The attack collided, but like before, it did nothing. Radian landed among the heroes, infuriated.

"Dang! Even my fire attacks don't work!" Kera snarled through her teeth. "What are we suppose to do now?"

"Wait! I remember something!" Cream realized as she snapped her fingers, creating a short fuse, "Back in the old days, the stronger enemies had a type of weak spot that was either hidden or stuck out. Maybe that's what we need to do. We need to find a weak spot!"

"Thanks for the pep talk, auntie!" Jewels nodded. "Omega! If you will?"

"Affirmative," Omega's optics shifted to Analyze Mode as he scanned the Freeze Cyclopes. Finally, his optics returned to red as he reported what he found. "There is a purple orb on the back of the Freeze Cyclopes. Too much damage will break it apart."

"Let me try," Jewels said as she flew up into the air. She began to fly around the fly around the Cyclopes, avoiding its huge arms. As she managed to get to the back, she saw a purple orb sticking out of the back.

"Here I come!" Jewels yelled as she aimed her fist at the orb. It started to blaze with heat as she got closer. The moment she struck it, it cracked. The Freeze Cyclopes roared in pain as it felt it. Satisfied, she flew back to the others.

"That'd be weak spot alright," Jewels said as she landed. "Thanks, Omega!"

"I am here to assist."

"Now we know where to strike it," Shade nodded. "We have to proceed with caution, thought. That thing will try to not let it happen again."

"Roger that!" Emerl nodded.

Larcen rushed at Rothion with his dagger out and ready. Dagger met ax in a loud clashing sound. As Larcen went to kick him, the owl shifted left and aimed to cut the navy hedgehog in two. Larcen quickly put up his barrier to block it.

"I've had enough of you guessing games!" Larcen demanded. "What is Mephiles after?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Rothion grinned as he raised his ax and slammed it against the barrier in a powerful shockwave. This broke the barrier and sent Larcen flying on his back. Before Rothion could finish the job, Marisa sided into her friend's defense and sent a fire wave from the ground up. Caught off guard, Rothion made a haste retreat. As the owl stopped himself, Darcy arrived next to him and snapped her fingers. At that moment, a bolt of darkness came from the sky and right at Marisa and Larcen. Both got out of the way in time and watched as the bolt struck the area where they stood, sending more snow in their faces. After they managed to wipe the white powder away, Larcen dashed at Rothion and Darcy without a word. Marisa assisted him by creating a tornado to launch him up. Larcen flew high up and came down in a max spinning kick. The attack power increased with his speed. Rothion and Darcy warped out of the way just as Larcen landed, sending snow flying from the impact.

As he slowly stood up, he saw that there was a lot more snow around him, making it difficult to see. He let his hearing guide him to try and find where the two of them may have ended up. He closed his eyes and began to focus. He needed to be very careful; he knew what he was up against. Just then, his senses snapped. Turning to his left, he charged at area where he heard some shuffling. Taking his dagger out again, he jumped in for a spinning strike.

"TERIAAAAAA!" Larcen yelled as he spun in a tornado like spin and slammed into the target. He made his impact, but the targets where not there.

"What-?" he gaped just before he was blasted on to his back. Before him, Darcy levitated downward.

"Larcen!" Marisa shouted as he ran to aid him. Unfortunately, she was blocked by an axe.

"You're friend is as good as dead," Rothion taunted. "Do not fret- you will join him soon enough."

"Get out of my way!" Marisa snapped as she reared her boot backwards.

**KA-POW!**

Rothion's beak was suddenly connected to Marisa foot as she sent a painful kick at his face. He was sent flying sky high, and crashed into the snow pile that was some feet away.

"It's too late for you're boyfriend now!" Darcy shouted as she held Larcen by the scruff of his neck. Her other hand had growing dark matter inside, "You should have yielded when you had the chance. Now he'll be the first to pay the price!"

"You… don't you dare…!" Marisa churned as her red eyes glowed and a magic aura formed around her dangerously.

"From the land of water and flames…

"Screw the introduction!"

A familiar set of blue rose flew down from the air and around Darcy and Larcen. A bright flash occurred, blowing Darcy and Larcen clear away from one another. As Darcy gained second wind, she saw the mysterious man standing in the recovering Larcen's defense. "I am the Blue Phantom!"

"You again?" Darcy frowned. "Well, this time I have something especially for you!" And she snapped her fingers.

In front of the Phantom, a strange puppet creature appeared. It was pure white with red glowing eyes. It looked very much like a manikin, but without the joints. It acknowledged him and took a fighter stance.

"What is this?" the Phantom questioned.

"I've taken note of your skills, and I'll admit that you are a strong fighter," Darcy said, "But even you will have some trouble with this puppet!"

"Heh heh, I doubt it," he said as he brushed his cape and took a stance. "Larcen, you and Marisa have unfinished business, don't you?"

Larcen was still slightly unsure of this man's motives, but he did have some trust in him. Slightly nodding, he took some steps back and joined Marisa.

The Phantom turned his attention back to the puppet and took a Horse Stance. "Come then, snow white. Show me your stuff!"

Taking the challenge, the puppet charge and began throwing fists at the Phantom. The Phantom managed to block each blow that was handed to him, but one of the blows got his gut. Taking advantage, the puppet kneed his chest, making him stagger back.

"Hmm, it's rather strong," he mused as he rubbed his stomach. "Alright, time to get serious."

Pulling out his roses, he threw them at the puppet. The puppet sidestepped out of range, making the roses sink in the snow. The Phantom continued to throw the infinite amount of roses, forcing the puppet to retreat farther. Suddenly, the Phantom stopped, and that was when the puppet realized that it was surrounded by a field of blue roses. In a chain reaction, the roses exploded, making the puppet shield itself. Amidst the snow and smoke, the Phantom appeared and kicked the puppet across the chest. Leaping back, he sent another rain of roses that exploded on contact. The puppet was wise enough to leap out of the way. Flying toward the Phantom, it sent a barrage of punches and kicks. As both landed away from each other, the puppet continued the attack by stretching its arm at the Phantom for a punch. Phantom quickly leaped up to avoid the attack as it slammed into the snow.

"Dang it! He's like Necro! And without the electricity!" he panted as he looked down. Looking upward, the puppet used its still locked arm to spring up and confront the Phantom with a double-leg kick. He managed to drive out of the way and land back down. The puppet landed after him and continued to throw out more attacks. The Phantom had to admit, it was very powerful. But then after moments of blocking, he spotted an opening. Clenching his fist, he sent a strong blow at the face. The puppet staggered, looking dazed. The Phantom smirked underneath his mask. Time to finish this.

"ORAH! ORAH! ORAH! ORAH! ORAH! ORAH! ORAH! ORAH!" The Phantom called as he sent a series of rapid kicks all over the puppet. The puppet started to spin after the kicks ceased, but he wasn't down. With his arm going ablaze, he reared it back, and sent a burning uppercut on the chin, a geyser of fire appearing around them.

_"Shinryuken!"_

The puppet slowly burned up and disintegrated as the attack took full effect. After there was nothing left of it, the Phantom halted the attack, landing in the area of melted snow.

"You bastard!" The Phantom turned around and saw an angry Rothion behind him. "You always interfere with us! I shall teach you the true meaning of pain!" With his green eyes flashing, Rothion swung his axe and created and energy blade. The Phantom shield himself with his cape, as it was made up of metal. But the blade pushed him back and threw him backwards, making him utter a painful grunt. Consequently, the cupid mask and the fedora flew into the air before landing with a soft pat. A pair a feet slowly walked up to it and two hands picked up. Kera the Hedgehog looked at the mask and fedora curiously.

"Phantom!" Marisa gasped as she ran up to him. He was kneeling behind her and had his head down. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly. His voice sounded very different without the mask. He sounded almost… no way! "Just stop them from getting the Emerald!"

Turning around, she saw Darcy flying toward them with her hands glowing bright. She was aiming to finish the job. Quickly, she cupped her hands on her side as she produced a ball of light. After gaining enough energy, she threw the ball out. Darcy flew over it, but was soon struck by a blast of darkness.

"Even though we still don't know who you are," Marisa said, her hands still sparking from dark matter, "The least we can do is help you."

"Th-thanks," the Phantom uttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Breezy had witnessed what had happened to the Phantom and was seething mad. She hated seeing people get hurt, another trait inherited from her parents. "Girls, let's end this!"

Athena and Maria nodded. Before them, the Egg Cerberus was more battered than normal, due to the attacks the trio sent out. With one last effort, the machine charged. The girls jumped to avoid the charge and grabbed hold of the jaws. With their strength increased by pure adrenaline, the three miraculously flipped the Egg Cerberus on its back.

"Now Maria!" Athena shouted. The cat and echidna leaped into the air and changed up their attacks over their heads.

_"Scorch Toss!"_

_"Chaos Bloom!"_

The two attacks homed in at the stomach of the machine, causing a powerful burst that ripped right through. The Egg Cerberus let out one last howl before shutting down completely. A huge, smoking hole was seen there after. Satisfied, Breezy removed the Chaos Emerald from the head of the dead beast. Spotting Kera, she raced over to her.

"Kera!" she shouted as she reached her. "We got the Emerald! How are you guys holding out? And how's the Phantom Dude?"

"The Cyclops is almost down, but it's becoming more cunning," Kera told her. "Don't worry about the Phantom though. He doesn't seem hurt, but he won't be leaving. Not without these anyway," she continued as she showed the mask and fedora.

Blinking, she ran up to the Phantom and began to aid him. "Hey you, are you al-?" she began to say as she lifted his shoulders up to help him. But then she saw a clear view of his face. Breezy's eyes widened and her jaws dropped. She couldn't believe who she was seeing right in front of her.

"Y…you?"


	22. The Unmasking

**Ch 22: The Unmasking  
**

"You bastard!" The Phantom turned around and saw an angry Rothion behind him. "You always interfere with us! I shall teach you the true meaning of pain!" With his green eyes flashing, Rothion swung his axe and created and energy blade. The Phantom shield himself with his cape, as it was made up of metal. But the blade pushed him back and threw him backwards, making him utter a painful grunt. Consequently, the cupid mask and the fedora flew into the air before landing with a soft pat. A pair a feet slowly walked up to it and two hands picked up. Kera the Hedgehog looked at the mask and fedora curiously.

"Phantom!" Marisa gasped as she ran up to him. He was kneeling behind her and had his head down. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly. His voice sounded very different without the mask. He sounded almost… no way! "Just stop them from getting the Emerald!"

Turning around, she saw Darcy flying toward them with her hands glowing bright. She was aiming to finish the job. Quickly, Marisa cupped her hands on her side as she produced a ball of light. After gaining enough energy, she threw the ball out. Darcy flew over it, but was soon struck by a blast of darkness.

"Even though we still don't know who you are," Marisa said, her hands still sparking from dark matter, "The least we can do is help you."

"Th-thanks," the Phantom uttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Breezy had witnessed what had happened to the Phantom and was seething mad. She hated seeing people get hurt, another trait inherited from her parents. "Girls, let's end this!"

Athena and Maria nodded. Before them, the Egg Cerberus was more battered than normal, due to the attacks the trio sent out. With one last effort, the machine charged. The girls jumped to avoid the charge and grabbed hold of the jaws. With their strength increased by pure adrenaline, the three miraculously flipped the Egg Cerberus on its back.

"Now Maria!" Athena shouted. The cat and echidna leaped into the air and changed up their attacks over their heads.

_"Scorch Toss!"_

_"Chaos Bloom!"_

The two attacks homed in at the stomach of the machine, causing a powerful burst that ripped right through. The Egg Cerberus let out one last howl before shutting down completely. A huge, smoking hole was seen there after. Satisfied, Breezy removed the Chaos Emerald from the head of the dead beast. Spotting Kera, she raced over to her.

"Kera!" she shouted as she reached her. "We got the Emerald! How are you guys holding out? And how's the Phantom Dude?"

"The Cyclops is almost down, but it's becoming more cunning," Kera told her. "Don't worry about the Phantom though. He doesn't seem hurt, but he won't be leaving. Not without these anyway," she continued as she showed the mask and fedora.

Blinking, she ran up to the Phantom and began to aid him. "Hey you, are you al-?" she began to say as she lifted his shoulders up to help him. But then she saw a clear view of his face. Breezy's eyes widened and her jaws dropped. She couldn't believe who she was seeing right in front of her.

"Y…you?"

Although she was now in her mid-to-late thirties, Queen Elise the Third still sported that youthful face. With the fedora gone, her long red hair went past her shoulders. The crown that she normally wore on her head was also gone since would get in the way of her disguise. Her blue eyes locked on to Breezy as the hedgehog continued to gap in shock and awe. "Hoo, I can understand why you are looking at me like that," she said with an embarrassed smile. "You never suspected me underneath that mask, did you?"

"But you… how did… why are… hah…?" Breezy babbled incoherently. All this time, the queen that went missing ever since the incident started was right under her nose. Breezy was befuddled beyond belief.

The weirdness was cut short when Darcy flew over them and fired blasts of darkness at them. With a quick "Eeek!", she scooped up Elise and ran out of the way. The blasts complete missed them.

Meanwhile, the fight against the Freeze Cyclops came to an end as the monster fell and broke into pieces. Jewels jumped from the rubble and dusted off her hands. "And that… is the end of that!" she said crossly.

"Everyone back to the train now!"

Jewels turned in time to watch Breezy running to the gate… with someone in her arms. Wondering what was up, she turned to the others and said, "Seems like Breezy got the Chaos Emerald. And she found someone too. We'd better move."

"Gotcha," Shade nodded.

Everyone quickly turned tail and ran, following Breezy back to the Thunder Trail that awaited them. Darcy and Rothion we're close behind. They knew that the Chaos Emerald was now with them. That was something they could not allow.

"They have the Chaos Emerald, you dolt!" Darcy snapped at him. "Summon the minions and stop them!"

Rothion slightly growled at her ranting as he slammed his axe down and summoned the monsters from beneath the Earth. The creatures were right behind the heroes and were moving fast.

"We don't have the time to deal with them!" Larcen growled. "We need to shake them off!"

"I know what to do!" Kera said as she ran next to him. "Everyone get inside the train!"

All of the heroes quickly complied and jumped back into the train. Kera was the last one to get on board, but not before she got her sword out. "Let's shake things up…" she joked before sending a fireball from her sword and towards the mountains.

As soon as the fireball hit, a huge avalanche started and raced toward the base at alarming speeds. The train didn't dilly-dally and immediately road away. The Iblis' Minions and Aqua Fiends were not as lucky as the avalanche, as quickly as it appeared, buried them within the snow, killing all that got caught in the path. The train was just inches away from the avalanche as it came dangerously closer. Finally, the avalanche slowly stopped as the train continued to speed into the night.

The White Acropolises base was completely buried from the snow. All of the monsters were dead from the cold avalanche. Somewhere from the pile of snow, Rothion and Darcy managed to climb out of the hill. Both were freezing cold.

"Nothing like white powder," Rothion chuckled. Darcy punched him across the face.

* * *

Back in the train…

"Mom! You're okay!" Eli cried as she garbed her mother in a tight hug. Elise smiled back as she cuddled her daughter to her chest.

"It's good to see you again, Eli. How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm doing fine," Eli giggled as she wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.

"Elise, hey!" Molly smiled as she hugged her for a short moment, "What happen? Why did you vanish like that?"

"Don't worry. I will explain everything," she nodded. Then she turned to her son, whom was leaning on the wall. "Aren't you going to say something, Zed?"

"What is there, to say?" Zed grumbled.

"Still have that attitude, do you?" Elise frowned. "Well, your father and I will soon have a talk about that later. So, where do the rest of you want to start?"

Kera eyed the Queen of Soleanna and said, "You were the Blue Phantom the whole time."

"Yes. That's right," she nodded.

"But… since when? How!" Sunseed sputtered.

"Brain-freezing, ain't it?" Emerl jibed. "It isn't everyday that someone in royalty starts to kick ass."

Elise couldn't help but giggle, "Hm hm, you act a lot like Sonic."

"It's not so uncanny," Emerl stated. "When Sonic found me in Emerald Coast all those years ago, he was the first that I copied from. I gained his powers and his personality, along all the other powers from everyone else as I met them. You could say that Sonic and I are one and the same."

"You know…" Jewels began, "Uncle Sonic did say that he knew you. But he also said that you might have forgotten or something. I always thought he was playing a joke with us. But now…"

"So then… you know THE Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eli gasped. "That's so awesome!"

"But… how did you guys meet?" Violet asked. "Er… Your Grace?"

"We're all friends here, right?. Just call me Elise. It was twenty years ago when we first meet. I was eighteen and soon to be queen. I was doing my usual duties in the Festival of the Sun, when Eggman attack me kingdom with a barrage of missiles and an army of robots. He wanted to kidnap me for the secrets that I was guarding. And then that was when I met HIM; he destroyed all of the robots in a single minute (or less) and swooped me up. I have to admit, I was frighten at first, with all the speed and the missiles storming behind us."

"S-so he re-rescued you f-from Eggman?" Gadget asked.

"That's putting it mildly," Elise sighed. "On that week, I ended up being kidnapped four times. Or more. I lost count. Two of those times was kind of Silver's fault, since was trying to kill Sonic when it all happened."

"What?" Athena gasped. "Why would my dad do that?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, I was really glad that I got to meet Sonic. Until I did, I was quite lonely."

"You were lonely?" Maria wondered. "Didn't you have any other friends?"

"If you could count the rich brats from summer camp," Elise sighed. "They were very stuck up in my opinion. All I had was the mayor and my servants to keep me company. None of the children back then played with me; perhaps they all thought I was too good for them. During my birthdays, we had parades and I had to sit on the main float and wave to the other children, looking happy as always. But… I wasn't really happy. I didn't want any fancy parades or floats. I wanted to have a normal party, with normal friends, just like every other girl. Honestly… I wanted be like everyone else."

The car fell silence, the rumble of the rails being the only sound. Everyone thought back to what the once thought before. The queen who normally was humble on the outside was suffering on the inside. Being locked inside the castle with no real friends to be with could really damage a person. For Eli and Zed, it was no wonder why she sent them to make friends of their own age while wearing clothing that didn't give their identity's away.

"Ara," Cream prompted, trying to get back to the point, "Why was Eggman after you?"

"He wanted to unlock the secrets to the Flames of Disaster."

"Flames of what-now?" Galaxina blinked.

"Something that my father worked on before he… passed away. The Flames of Disaster is really Iblis. Eggman's goal was to use Ibils to not only rule the world, but time and space as well. What he may or may not have known is that attempting to do so would cause Solaris' wrath."

"He actually went that far?" Samson gasped, eyes widened.

"But wait just a minute," Daisy interrupted. "Iblis and Mephiles combine together to become Solaris. Why do you worship Him?"

"What?" Zed asked with a small frown. "What do you mean by that?"

"Another mishap of my father's project. Yes, that's the truth. Solaris was never really a humble god who gave us good wealth and fortune." Her thin eyebrows furrowed. "No. In reality, all He was, was a glutinous beast who devoured worlds, and never becomes satisfied. All He does is eat until there is nothing left to consume."

"So… you're saying that all this time," Eli said with wide eyes, "We've been worshiping a monster!"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Zed demanded angrily, "Even I agree that our people have a right to know the truth!"

"Zed, Eli," Elise began sternly, "As much as I agree with you both, I cannot allow that. What do you think would happen if everyone in the kingdom found out that our god was a dimension eating beast?"

Eli calmed down as she studied the possibilities. "Everyone… would question their faith… they would want to know everything… and they would find no reason to live anymore…"

"I know how you feel, but it's the way it must be," Elise nodded.

"One thing that I don't understand…" Charmy said, "Is how did this Mephiles guy kill Sonic in the first place?"

"What did you say?" Kera gasped. "Sonic was killed?"

"You serious?" Larcen demanded.

"How did it happen?" Radian added. "What did he do?"

The train car was soon engulfed in an uproar. Everyone was up at the top of their lungs. It was when Marine blew out an intense whistle, things started to calm down.

"I tink we owe the queen som toim to explain, shellas," Marine said impatiently. "Now ya we're sayin'… Elise?"

"That I'd really like to know," Breezy cracked her knuckles.

"It's… something that I wish I did forget," Elise frowned, looking back on that un-fateful evening.

_20 Years Ago…_

_The sun was beginning to set in the west, now bathing the world with its orange rays of light, giving a whole new look of beauty as nature painted it upon her canvas. Fifteen year old Sonic and eighteen year old Princess Elise were heading back to Soleanna after escaping the Egg Carrier which was destroyed. Eggman most likely ran out of ideas, and there was no way he could try to kidnap her again._

"We escaped the Egg Carrier after Sonic managed to rescue me one last time," the queen narrated. "I was so relieved; I thought I was all over. However, it was something that Mephiles intended to happen."

_Suddenly, purple flash of energy appeared behind them, blinding them. And behind the blinding shockwave, a form rose up from the ground, in the shape of a hedgehog, spines and limbs encased in crystal. Since Sonic's and Elise's backs were turned, and their ears were held up, they did not know about the intruder. _

_Mephiles the Dark looked at the miserable two, and had to laugh. "This is delicious! It's hard to believe that my plan is going THIS well." Mephiles made a ghost of a shrug, and formed an aura of Dark Rainbow Chaos Energy in his hands. "You've defied death long enough, Sonic the Hedgehog, but now, the Reaper demands his payment."_

**_KA-WIZZ!_**

**_SPLAT!_**

_Sonic's eyes widened as he felt the cold blast rip through his intestines like butter. Time seemed to go into slow motion as Sonic grasped his chest. As the light went down, Elise pulled her hands from her eyes and ears. The first thing she did was turn to Sonic and made a terrified gasp. Whatever that light did, Sonic now had a sizeable and bloody hole in his chest! "SONIC!"_

_Sonic sank to his knees. Blood was filling in his lungs so that he couldn't breathe, and his heart was waning. In a flash, Elise held him in her arms. "Sonic! Hang on! We have to get help!"_

_Sonic looked at up at Elise, his eyelids drooping slowly. "Elise… get out of here… before…" It was all he managed to say before his eyes shut and his head drooped._

_Elise was shaking Sonic hard, no, it couldn't be! She called his name over and over, each time louder and more desperate then the last. She turned Sonic onto his back, causing Sonic's arm to limp lifelessly to the side. Elise saw the wound more clearly now, and saw that no blood wasn't coming out…not because it had clotted, but he lost too much blood. She found that her gloves were stained with it, as was the grass on the ground and her dress._

_"Oh, Sonic…" she moaned as her head lowered close to his body. And then… she heard a voice in her ears._

_"That's a good girl, Elise  
Remember, be brave.  
Don't cry, no matter what happens.  
Otherwise your tears will call forth  
the flames insides you.  
Become a strong queen who doesn't cry  
no matter what happens. "_

_Her fist slow clenched as dirt collected into her palm. Dark clouds started to form in sky as she slowly whimpered for the murdered hero underneath her. And then the inevitable happened: after ten years, tears started to roll down her cheeks, causing an ominous flaming aura to appear around her. Thunder and lighting flashed through the air as the aura grew with her sorrow with each passing second. Then it flooded the area like clockwork._

**_CRASH! FLASH!_**

_ "No… no… NOOOOOOOOOO!" Elise howled as she reared her head up. Her demonic aura shot up into the sky and splashed into the clouds, creating a dramatic effect. The ground began to rumbled and shake as the clouds turned darker._

_Mephiles nearby began laughing ecstatically. At last, the wait he longed to be over had finally ended! "Finally! The seal has been broken! At long last Ibils, I'll be able to join with you!" Mephiles shouted with glee, evil glee that is as a red flaming aura appeared around him._

_End of Flashback…_

"That lousy, dirty, rotten, slimy, rusting, crusting, son-ov-a…!" Zed seethed, shaking his fist. "He shot him in the back!"

"Yeah! That was a cowardly move!" Marisa exclaimed. "I can't believe he did that! I bet he was too much of a coward to face him head on!"

"But why?" Radian asked, rubbing his beak. "Why did he have to do all of that? Why did he go through all that trouble to make you miserable?"

"I think Mephiles enjoys making people feel bad," Elise guessed. "I think the reason he did all of that was to make me feel helpless and useless. When I watched Sonic die before me, I felt completely worthless. That was what Mephiles wanted me to think about myself I suppose."

"That's terrible!" Eli gasped.

"No one is disagreeing with that. But what do you expect from someone like Mephiles?" Larcen huffed, "Violet did say that you managed to revive him though. But, she didn't know how. What did you do?"

"Um… let me put it this way…" Elise blushed as brushed her fingers against her lips. "Sonic was not only my first friend, but also… my first kiss…"

Once again, everyone was dumbstruck. Whatever answer they were expecting from her, they were not expecting that. In their minds, they had picture of that famous scene in Sleeping Beauty, only in gender reverse. It was possible, but no one thought that it would really go like that. Only one of them was active for the next moment.

"WOW!" Breezy exclaimed as she jumped up and twirled around. Her world was filled with pink/purple sparkles and hearts. "My daddy got kissed by a princess! That's so radical, desu! It totally makes up for him getting killed! Sooo cool!"

"You really have a strange way of thinking, kid," Zed grumbled.

"Hmm, maybe if Breezy ends up in a coma, you could wake her up with a kiss, Zed," Eli grinned jokingly.

The two halted their testosterone battle and snapped their attention toward her. "HELL NAW!" the duo screamed, and then glared at one another there after.

"So then… that graffiti art of the knight and princess we saw at Aquatic Capital," Larcen started. "That was…"

"Of course!" Elise laughed. "That was Sonic and I!"

"So it was a warning after all!" Gadget said.

"Alright, now to continue," Shade interrupted. "You and Sonic managed to erase the whole thing. But…"

"We could never meet," Elise finished. "I guess Sonic thought that I forgot about him, thought that it would be best for it to stay that way. I don't blame him. I did, however, really miss him. I wanted to see him again so badly."

"So you no one really forgot," Starla said. "Not even you."

"And I gained something extra." She opened her palm and colorful swirls appeared from it. Instantly, a shining butterfly flew from her hand and fluttered around the car.

"Uwaaaa! So pretty!" Maria smiled with her hands cupped to her cheeks.

"I'll second that!" Marisa cooed with sparkles in her eyes.

"Although I'm no longer the Jinchuuriki to Iblis," Elise said as she made the butterfly vanish, "I can still use his powers. I can control fire as well as kinetic energy. I also have limited control over illusions. I found that out after playing with some darts. I threw it and it blew my door wide opened! My servants were very startled, but I assure them that I wasn't hurt. After I realized my powers, I decided to travel the world, so that I could learn how to defend myself, and Sonic, once I met him again."

"So, what did you do?" Chrysanthemum asked.

Elise smiled, crossing her legs. "Have you heard of Ryu?"

"Ryu?" Kera blinked. "You mean the Tireless Warrior? That Ryu?"

She nodded, "I bumped in to him and asked if he could train me. He declined, saying that he too had much to learn. He did, however, send me to someone that could help me. His master and mine, Gouken. He was intimidating at first, but he was also very friendly. He told me that he had never trained a female before, but was willing to give me a chance."

"Wow, so you were trained by the sensei of the Tireless Warrior to defend yourself?" Larcen gaped.

"Yes," she turned to her children. "It was also where I met Zed and Eli's father. He was also training under Gouken."

"So romantic," Galaxina longingly sighed.

"While we trained, we also went around the world, competing various tournaments. Master Gouken said that in order to know true defense, we must study every strength and weakness of each fighting style in the world. We met the many interesting people and made plenty of new friends. I especially enjoyed knocking the lights out of Hibiki." She sniggered lightly.

"You mean Dan 'The Man'? Founder of the so-called Saikyō-Ryu? That guy's such a loser!" Jewels laughed. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have something of him, would you?"

"I do," she answered as she pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Molly. Marisa and Eli looked over her shoulders to see. It was a photo of Elise in her mid-twenties doing a victory pose. She was standing over a pathetic looking Chinese/Japanese man in a pink gi with spinning eyes. It looked like she threw him into the table.

"Hahahahaha! Wow!" Marisa laughed. "You must've really given it to him good!"

"He never learns too," Elise smirked. "He's always challenging me to a rematch. He clams that I'm his, 'Eternal Rival'."

"Cool mom!" Eli squealed. "Can you teach me to fight like you?"

"Hmm… I'll think about it."

"So you traveled the world to get yourself stronger and met your husband while doing so. I like that," Kera smiled.

"Just to speed things up, I was I who invited Sonic and the others to this year's Festival of the Sun, so that I could surprise them. I didn't know that they had children yet. Once I heard about their disappearance, I decided to investigate for myself."

"Speaking of which," Jewels said, "The G.U.N. soldiers are still looking for you."

"Hmm… well, what do you think should happen?"

Jewels closed her eyes and crossed her arms. Breaking into the G.U.N. HQ was illegal. But… Elise explained her reasons. And she was an old friend of her family, and the Queen of Soleanna. So…

"I'll just say that you gave up what you stole. No harm in that," she smiled.

"Jewels, thank you," Eli smiled.

"Don't worry about."

"Glad everything is starting work out now," Violet said, smiling, "But now the day is just about over. I think we should rest for now until we pick up the location."

With all of that finally set aside, everyone went around their business before they turn in for the night. A few moments after the conversation ended, Breezy was leaning on the window edge was she watched the trees go by while sipping some juice. Elise joined in.

"So, enjoying your very first adventure?" the queen asked humbly.

"Yeah, everything's happening so fast," Breezy answered. "I got to see new places, meet new friends, and do all kinds of other cool stuff."

Elise chuckled. "You should meet this African princess I know. She really loves to travel and make new friends. I'm sure you and Eli would get along very well with her."

"Wow! I can't wait to see her!" Breezy beamed.

"My, my. You are just like Sonic when I last saw him."

"R-really? You mean it?"

She placed a gentle hand on the girls head and rubbed her ears. "Yes. You have a lot of Sonic within you."


	23. All the Peices Are in Place

**Chaptet 23: All the Peices Are in Place**

Eggman Nega was working furiously on his computer, searching for the location of the last Chaos Emerald. It was a map of the world on his screen, and a bleeping dot could be seen. Eggman Nega zoomed in on them and enlarged the images. "Yes!" he grinned. "I have found it!" He turned around and grabbed his controller for his Egg Mobile. "First I'll take that one, then the rest will be easy picking!" One of his helper drones rolled up to him.

"Doctor, the scanners show that the hedgehog and her friends are approaching the area," the robot said, "They have already proven capable of outmaneuvering you. What if they intercept?"

Eggman Nega sorted ignorantly as he typed in more commands on his computer, "All I did was underestimate them. I will not make that mistake again. This time I have a powerful weapon at my disposal. What are the odds of them being able to destroy that?"

"90%."

**BANG!**

The machine went down and began to spark madly. A sizable hole was in the middle, with smoke coming out of it.

Eggman Nega put away his pistol and began to walk away. "Stupid machine…."

* * *

The morning sun began to rise over the horizon as a new day begins. But unknown to many people, this was the day that would ultimately decide the fate of the world. Everything was at stake now.

We turned to the Thunder Trail, which was still rolling on the track. It was riding through the Sand Ocean and was headed toward the one of Eggman's former bases, the Pyramid Cave. The last Chaos Emerald was hidden in that very location.

Inside, the passengers have already gotten up and began to get ready. They were filling themselves with a hearty breakfast while trying to figure out what to do.

"So, you say that the final Emerald is in the Pyramid Cave?" Kera asked as she tossed her bisects up and down before taking a bite out of it.

"That's right," Daisy nodded. "Just before we crashed yesterday night, I made a program for the Thunder Trail to pinpoint the location and home on to it. Since it was kinda far yesterday, sleeping it off while getting here was the best idea." Then she added with a smug look, "My techno skills a quite impressive, wouldn't you agree?"

"Whatever you say," Shade smiled.

"So," Zed spoke with a bored expression, "Any ideas what Mephiles is after?"

"Well, we already know that he want's the Army of Darkness, but with what he wants to do with them, that still has yet to be seen," Elise answered.

"Wait a minute, did you say Army of Darkness?" Emerl asked.

"You know about this?" Marisa questioned.

The robot nodded. "The Army of Darkness are the Gizod of the First Generation! Their AI is pretty weak and low-tech, and they only had one command in their programing: to kill. That, and while they're insanely strong, they can't use the copy ability like I can. Still, for someone to awaken the Army of Darkness, even for someone as calculating and cunning as Mephiles, it's just insane."

"But what do we do about Mephiles?" Samson continued, "He's stronger than all of us combined."

"We'll figure out a plan," Radain reassured, "One that even he won't see coming."

"Why am I not so convinced?" Galaxina frowned.

"Well, it isn't like we can make a run for it," Chrysanthemum remarked, "Its not like any of us have funky genes like the hedgehog."

"'Funky' would be a loose term," Violet spoke up, "Her adrenaline and metabolism allow her to reach 1,356 mph, which is basically Mach 2."

"That much we already know," Larcen said.

"Well, I'm still not as fast as my pops," Breezy shrugged, eating an omelet sandwich, "He can go up to Mach 3 now, which is… um…?"

"2,124 mph, Breezy," Violet said helpfully.

Kera couldn't help but whistle, "Even Larcen can't run that fast."

"Humph," the middle hedgehog in question snorted irritably.

"So, what's the plan?" Jewels asked.

"The best thing for us to do now is to split into three teams," Elise said. "From what I've heard, Pyramid Cave is quite easy to get lost. Marisa, you, Larcen and Shade are with me."

"I'm with Radian," Jewels nodded, "Samson, you, Kera, Emerl, Cream and Omega are with us."

"Gotcha," the swallow nodded.

"Affirmative," Omega added.

"And that leaves Breezy, Gadget, Athena and I," Maria finished. "Very well then, any questions?"

No one had any objections.

"Then it's settled," Elise replaced her fedora back on her head, though did nothing about her long hair, "Get prepped all of you. We've almost reached our destination."

* * *

As the train moved closer to its destination, two figures watched the movement as they stood on a pillar. These figures were a red bat and a Chinese monkey.

The pair had final managed to get all the Emerald Shards. The last of it was found in Future City. There was some trouble but none that needed elaboration. That will be explained another time.

"So that's where they're headed," Jam observed.

"So the last Emerald is in that pyramid?" Meiling asked.

"It appears that way," Jam nodded. "Come on, let's lend them a hand."

Meiling nodded. With everything set aside, they jumped down and went for the pyramid.

* * *

The party stepped out of their ride and looked around the area. It was rugged and stony paths were around. Eggman's insignia was still visible on a wall, bit it was quite worn.

"The Pyramid Cave, huh?" Breezy muttered.

"That's right, we made it," Kera said. "Let's not waste any more time; time to spread out and search. We can regroup once the Emerald is captured."

"You got it," Athena winked, "See you on the flip-side then!" And without another word, she, Breezy, Maria and Gadget vanished with flashes of blurs.

"Time to go," Radian nodded. "Jewels, if you please?"

"Sir!" the female echidna nodded. Turning to an opposite wall, she twirled her arms around with incredible speeds, causing small winds to appear around her. Then she dove right at it and crashed through, causing dust to fly everywhere and for the crew to shield themselves. When the dust cleared, they could see a huge hole inside of it, and could hear Jewels still digging.

"Let's go!" Emerl said as the second team went after her. All of them vanished into the hole.

"So that leaves us?" Larcen asked.

"That's right," Elise nodded. "Now, Marisa, can you get us up to that ledge over there?"

"Yeah, I can. Hang on," the young mystic clapped her hands together and closed her eyes as she began to focus. Wind swirls slowly appeared around them, lifted them up, and carried them over the edge.

* * *

Deep inside the pyramid, rumbling could be heard and felt as small ruble fell from the ceiling. A wall yielded back in a huge explosion before settling down. This allowed the team of Jewels, Radian, Samson, Kera, Emerl, Cream, her two chao, and Omega to walk from the hole and looked around. It was a red chamber, fairly large. There were hieroglyphics on the walls and a few spider webs. It was also dark, with fire torches that were hanging on the walls. It looked like it went down a long ways.

Jewels looked down at her suit dusty and frowned. "I hate digging. After this is all over, I'm taking a long bath." She removed her dirty coat and put it in her knapsack which she had never showed before, showing that her white shirt was sleeveless.

"Wow, this chamber is amazing," Kera whispered in awe as she looked around. "Almost like the Dragon Temple back in the Dusty Desert."

"Omega, can you get a map of this place?" Cream asked him.

"Affirmative," Omega obeyed. His red eyes switched to the greens of Analysis Mode. After a few moments, they suddenly turned purple, and a holographic projector of the pyramid appeared before them. The projector went deeper into the 3D image before it stopped at an Emerald that was held on a pedestal.

"That's the Emerald," Radian nodded. "Seems like we have to travel a through some more areas though."

"Then let's not dilly-dally any longer," Cream nodded. "Alright, Omega. Let's go." The robot's eyes returned to red as they started to go down the path.

Raiden moved to the front of the path, his arms on fire as he lighted the way. There wasn't all too much to look at in the Death Chamber, but they could have sworn that they heard some moans. This scared Cheese and Chocola out of their wits, but Cream comforted them in her arms.

"Phew, this seems like it goes for miles," Emerl said.

"How much longer?" Kera asked.

"I'm guessing a several more minutes, but I can't be sure," Radian said. He turned to his left and point to a corridor. "Let's continue that way."

Before they could get moving again, something white flew out, around Radian, Cream, Jewels and Kera, and at Samson. It turned out to be a ghost, which screamed at him, freaking him out. As quickly as it vanished, Samson pulled out his pistols and started shooting randomly, prompting everyone to duck for cover.

"Get back here you God forsaken varmints~! " he yelled as he continued firing.

"Samson! Calm down!" Cream shouted as she shot a short fuse at him, causing him to twitch from the electricity.

"Ay yos mio," Samson shook himself out of it. "Sorry about that."

"Don't do it again," Kera sighed.

With that out of the way, the team moved deeper into the temple, getting closer the Emerald. But before they could get any closer, they felt some rumbling.

"Now what?" Emerl groaned as the rumbling grew.

"Something is coming…" Jewels frowned. Then she turned her eyes upward and pointed. "Up there!"

As if on que, something crashed down from the ceiling and landed in front, prompting them to shield themselves. It first appeared to be a spinning funnel, but as it slowed down, they could see its true shape. It looked like a smaller and sleeker version of the Feldynaught. It was black and blue in color. Underneath it was a drill. Lasers could be seen on the sides. On the head was the same dynamite and crossbones symbol.

"Look who decide to show up," Kera frowned as she fingered the hilt of her sword.

Yes, look who decided to show up. The cockpit opened, revealing the Dynamite Syndicate inside the machine.

"I was hoping we were going to run into you guys!" Moana frowned at them. "Do you have any idea what happened to us back there? I thought I was gonna die!"

"Aren't you the one who ambushed us?" Cream pointed out harshly.

"Yeah? What of it?" Bean pressed.

"It makes no difference," Skylark frowned, "We're pirates after all. I say it's high time we settled the score once and for all!" He leapt out of the cockpit and landed dramatically. Nack followed after him. After the weasel landed, he turned his attention to Samson.

"You and me, pal?" Nack smirked.

"All right then, senior," Samson frowned as he adjusted his hat.

"Attack Pattern Beta!" Skylark ordered.

"On the double!" the pirates obeyed. The cockpit closed, and the Ara, the machine, leapt up and prepared to pounce the remaining heroes; Emerl, Omega, Jewels, Radian, and Cream. They moved out of the way just as it came down. When it did land, the Spider Mummy's drill activated and began to chisel large chunks of rock everywhere. The five did their best to defend, and knock the rocks that came their way.

"We have to stop the drill!" Jewels yelled over the loud noise. "This temple could collapse if we aren't careful!"

"In that case, leave it to me!" Cream said as electricity began to build up in her hands, "Radian, I'll need some heat!"

"On your way!" Radian nodded as his arms began to burn brighter, _"Phoenix Blade!"_ He shot forth a heat blast at the drill. At the same time, Cream launched a ball of lighting. The two attacks connected and the drill began to grind from the mix of heat and electricity before coming to a halt.

"Not bad…" Moana said from the cockpit with the busted drill coming out of the dirt. "But it'll take a lot more then just that!" The Ara then jumped to face them before shooting several blasts from its guns. Jewels took this moment to pick up a rock and throw it at the machine. It struck, and did some damage to the guns.

"Alright!" Jewels grinned. "How about some help!"

"Right!" Emerl nodded as he and Omega also picked up boulders. The trio continued to throw rocks and stones at the guns while Cream and Radian evaded and dished out their own attacks to stall it. After throwing enough rocks, the guns got crushed and were unable to continue firing.

"Nice shot," Bean grunted from the speakers as the machine continued to hop around while the hatch on its head opened. "Now take this!" Bombs began to fly out all over the arena, exploding once they hit the ground. This made it a lot more difficult for them to move around, what with all the explosions going on.

"Damn it!" Emerl swore as he cupped his hands together, his metallic palms gaining a blue glow with wind swirls being absorbed. _"Hurricane Tornado!"_ He launched one of Sonic's wind attribute attacks to blow out the explosions and attack the Ara dead on. The machine crashed against the wall, but managed to get up.

"The thing is tougher than it looks," Jewels commented.

"Yeah, well we have to fix that problem, eh?" Radian said.

"Uh huh," Cream simply nodded.

Meanwhile, Samson and Nack were in another corner of the chambers having a shoot out. Nack had a kinetic pistol just like Samson did, thus making the fight more destructive. They were running side by side shooting at each other, damaging the walls really good. Nack jumped into they air and fired red kinetic shots. Samson kicked-back on his back and sled backwards, shooting at the red shots with blue shots. The beams collided and bounced off, exploding into the walls. Samson twirled around for a short moment before getting back on his feet. More red shots fired at him, but Samson managed to jump into the darkness just as they exploded. Nack walked to where he stood.

"Is that the best you got?" the Sniper Fang demanded, his narrowed blues looking for him.

"No," Nack turned around, only to have a blurry missile slam into his chest. As Nack fell on his back, the missile hopped off and landed, showing that it was Samson with a victorious smile. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

Nack's eyebrows furrowed as he moved his thick tail up and slammed it against Samson, throwing him some feet away. "Good. So am I."

As Samson slowly got to his feet, he suddenly noticed Nack rushing up to him, about to slap him with that lethal tail once again. When it was to close for comfort, Kera suddenly dropped in moved him out of the way, just as the tail crashed into the wall that Samson was standing against.

"Come on, get a grip," Kera said as she helped Samson by the arms.

"Ugh, thanks Kera," Samson grunted. He looked up, and saw another blurry missile coming at them. "Look out!" he shouted as he pushed Kera and moved out of the way. The missile missed, and reformed back to Skylark.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Skylark commented as Nack walked next to him.

"Yeah, right," Kera said as Samson aimed his gun at them.

* * *

The scene now shifts back to the outside area of the pyramid, or more specifically in front of a pillar. That's no longer the case as something behind it exploded, causing the pillar to fall and form a bridge across the quicksand. Four figures quickly dashed across the quicksand bridge before the quicksand bridge quickly sank into the quicksand. (Try and say that four times fast.)

"How much farther?" Larcen asked Shade.

The age-sensitive echidna took out a small devise and looked through it. She could see a small white blip near the top-left of the screen. "The Emerald is still just a few meters away. At this rate, we should get their in about… fourteen minutes."

"Oh bummer!" Marisa growled.

"There's no use complaining," Elise told her. "If we want to get the Emerald as quickly as we can, we need to move more quickly. But I can image that would be difficult in this heat."

"Speaking of which, aren't you hot in that tuxedo?" Larcen asked.

"I ignore it," she piped.

"Terrific," he slumped.

The team of four continued through the desert ruins, following Shade's Emerald Tracker. The desert winds continued blow around them, prompting Elise to hang on to her fedora. Speaking of the queen, there was something that Marisa wanted to ask her for awhile. She said that she met people around the world, so…

"Um, Elise?"

"Yes?" she said as she turned around. Larcen and Shade were already in front, so they couldn't here the conversation.

"I was… wondering…" she said timidly, flexing her index fingers, "Do you meet anyone named Louise Harmon?"

Elise thought for a moment, and then shook her head, "No, I cannot say I have."

"Oh…" Marisa sighed as she looked down.

"So this woman's name is Louise?" Elise asked her. "Is she your older sister?"

"No way," Marisa chuckled, "She's my mom. She's a very powerful sage too. She was training me in the arts of magic for a while, but I haven't seen her since I was twelve."

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. She vanished without a trace. I looked everywhere for her in Westropolis, asked any one I could. But she was no where to be found. I was afraid that I was now an orphan, because my dad died sometime after I was born. I gave up after days of searching and sat in an alley where I cried my heart out. And then Larcen found me. Since that day, we became best friends and started to search for what happened to our parents; his father vanished just after his mom died out of an unknown illness."

"Ah, I see," Elise nodded. She placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find your mother soon. And Larcen as well, I hope his father will come back to him."

"Thanks," Marisa smiled. "I know we will."

"Hey you guys," Shade called over. The two human women ran over to their companions. They seemed to be tensed about something.

"What is it?" Marisa asked.

"Something is jamming the radar," Shade frowned as she looked at the static on her machine. "Looks like we aren't alone."

Just then, Larcen turned to his right and saw a wall of rocks rumbling. "Over there!"

As if on que, a huge machine crashed out of the wall and started to walk up to the heroes after it gained momentum. It was yellow and black in color. It had spikes on its fists and flowing magnetic arms. It also had laser blasters on its left arm, and another canon on its right. There were also yet other canons on its shoulders.

"Eggman Nega?" Larcen, Shade and Marisa gasped.

"Eehehehehehehe!" the dark scientist cackled madly from his cockpit. "Greetings friends! Congratulations on making it all the way here!"

"Eggman Nega, why are you here?" Elise demanded.

"Ah, so this is Lady of Soleanna, eh?" Eggman Nega questioned. "They all grow up so fast. Since you asked, I'm going to take the Chaos Emerald that's hidden in this pyramid!"

"I thought you said that you didn't want them!" Marisa shouted.

"I lied," he grinned.

"You…!" Larcen began.

"Just like Dr. Eggman," Shade frowned.

Eggman Nega frowned as he turned to see Shade, "Humph, you mutts must be color blinded if you even thing about comparing me to that failure of a great-great-grandfather of mine!"

"What did you call me?" Shade demanded, "I am Princess Shade the Echidna of the Nocturnus Tribe! I am no mutt!"

"Just as prideful as the red mutt too," Eggman Nega snorted. "I thought he was the last of his kind."

"Some of us survived."

"There's no way you're getting that Chaos Emerald!" Marisa exclaimed.

"Is that right? We shall see what my latest machine as to say about that! This is my most brilliant creation: the Nega Titan! It holds twice the power of the Egg and Ghost Titan! I highly doubt that any of you will survive from this!"

"Oh yeah?" Larcen challenged. "Just try us!"

* * *

Deeper into the pyramid, the interior was dark, filled with platforms, pillars, and giant snake statues. There were also quite a few braziers scattered about. Most of the pillars had Eggman's face on them, and his face logo was embossed on most of the floor tiles. This is where four streaks, purple, white, black and green, made their trail.

"You guys feel it?" Breezy asked as she ran ahead.

"Yeah, the Chaos Emerald," Athena nodded. "It must be at the end of this path, I know it."

"How far do you think it is?" Gadget asked, hot having the ability to detect Chaos Emeralds.

"Several minutes tops if we can move fast enough," Maria said as she glided along next to him. "We cannot afford to lose this last one. We already have two in our possession, so we need to take back the others."

"You got it!" Breezy winked at her.

The team of four continued to move down the path and jumped down several stories. Continuing forward, they came across a big hourglass in front of a path leading to a blank wall. High atop the wall was a ledge with a sealed stone door. Several horizontal poles ran at differing heights along the path.

"What kind of hourglass is that?" Breezy wondered.

"It must be some kind of timer," Gadget said. "Give a kick."

Breezy walked up to huge thing and looked at it. The sand was completely in the bottom; it looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Breezy kicked it on the side, making the hourglass flip over. The door above it opened up and the sand started to trickle down.

"Let's move!" Athena said indefinitely, "From the looks of that hourglass, we don't have much time!"

Making haste of the moment, the girls quickly leapt on the poles to bounce themselves up, while Gadget suited to fly. They continued their way to the door before finally reaching the top, and then getting through just as the stone door closed.

"Phew! That was close," Athena said as she fanned herself. "What now?"

"Down this corridor!" Maria said, moving ahead as the others followed suit.

The team made their way through the pyramid, going through the corridor and jumping on the pillars. They were moving so fasts that the ghouls haunting the place couldn't touch them. They leap across a gap and grinned on rails to the next area. They went lower and deeper in the dark pyramid. When they got to about three more stories, they continued run.

"Sure is quite here," Maria said as she looked around. "I'm assuming nothing but the ghosts are no longer here."

"Of course," Gadget said as he flew above them. "I doubt that Eggman could have been able to bring that same kind of technology that we saw in White Acropolis down here. The aged walls of the pyramid wouldn't allow that. And if Eggman did try something, the pyramid would collapse."

"You're so cute when think things through," Breezy smiled at him.

"Hehe, you always thinks he's cute," Maria giggled as they stopped at a yellow chamber. "Can't blame you though, I find him cute as well."

"He's a real cutie, isn't he?" Athena smiled fondly, "If he were a bit older, I might just consider dating him."

Gadget couldn't help but turn red from all the comments around him. "You guuuuuuuys…." He whimpered as he twiddled his fingers behind his back.

Maria giggled as she wrapped her arms underneath Gadget's and pulled him in close to her. "You're just so adorable, Gadget," she laughed, playfully mashing and rubbing her lips against his cheek. Breezy joined in the hug, cuddling her best friend on the other cheek. And Athena levitated over them, playing with his ears. All of this attention continued to make him blush harder.

There is someone who wanted that kind of attention though. Snively seethed as he watched the game of affection through his screen.

'What the hell does that kid have that I don't?" he snarled through his grinning teeth. "Why is he getting the attention of beauties? It should be me getting that attention! I'll show that alien plush toy a thing or two!" Pressing the keys on his control board, he took his machine off stand-by. "Here I come!"

Meanwhile, the shower of affection came to a halt when they felt heavy shaking. Before they could react, the ceiling above them came crashing down, signaling them to get back. Out of smoke came a large robot that looked like a sumo fighter. The hard body was blue and black; the eyes were yellow in color. The thong it was wearing, if that was even possible, was white.

"Egads! Now what!" Athena gawked. The sumo's head opened up, and Snively came out of it, looking peeved.

"Snively?" Breezy gasped. Of all the times for him to appear, which isn't really saying much, especially now wasn't the time.

"Hedgehog, I'm hurt," he teared up in a dramatic yet comical way, "You already have me, Snively Robotnik, hire to the Empire, as your biggest fan. Why do you continue to hurt me by playing hard to get?"

"Get it through your thick head, you transgender jerk," Breezy retorted rudely. "There are plenty of reasons for me not to like you."

"Aw, so you still goin' at it, huh?" Snively continued, now getting a coy look on his face. "Don't make me have to ruff you and your friends up again. This Egg Sumo here packs a wallop."

"We'll have to see, won't we?" Athena frowned, a ball of fire appearing above her palm. "We'll trash that thing so bad, not even ash will be left!"

"Is that a challenge?" Snively snorted, "Then I'm game!" With that, he jumped back into his cockpit, the head closing shut.

The Egg Sumo roared as it leapt forward and on its huge belly. The young heroes jump out of the way with lighting speed. As it made a crash landing, the whole arena began to shake. Suddenly, a huge chunk of the ceiling crashed down beside Maria, causing her to sequel in fright.

"What the…" Breezy gaped as she saw what just happened. Then it hit her. "Snively, you big dip! Wait!"

The sissy boy ignored her as the Egg Sumo instantly got back up and charged at her, its arms moving in front rapidly. Breezy jumped from it quickly and the Egg Sumo crashed into the wall. More debris came falling down as a result.

"If he continues to use those sumo attacks here, he'll collapse this chamber!" Maria realized quickly.

"What do we do then?" Gadget asked. "There's no way he'll listen to reason."

Breezy simply shrugged. "Looks like we have to beat the reason into him."

* * *

"Ngh!" Kera grunted as she blocked her Dragon Sword against Skylark's sais, creating a rain of sparks. She kicked him in the chest, knocking him away by several feet.

"Neyah!" Skylark yelled as he lunged at her once again with a pack of swift strikes. Kera dug her sword into the dirt and ejected herself up, send her legs at Skylark's face, sending him flying into the dirt. As quickly as he fell, however, he was back up on his feet.

"It's useless, my friend," he boasted, "After fighting you all this time, I've picked up all of your skills and studied them. I know your techniques, and I know your movement. You are no longer a surprise to me."

Undaunted, Kera still kept her defensive stance, "You might know everything that I can do, but that won't help because I know everything that you can do," then she add with a smirk, "Odd, isn't it?"

He started to move swiftly in a zigzag pattern, a trail of dust following him. Then he clashed blades with her again. "Why are you and your friends so interested in the Chaos Emerald any? You don't look like the kind of girl who'd want to get rich quick."

"You're behind the times then," Kera frowned, pushing her blade against his. "We need the Chaos Emeralds to save the world!"

"What kind of excuse is that?" Skylark said, suddenly maneuvering around her and kicking her on the back. "How can seven jewels save the world anyway?"

"Stop fighting and I'll tell you!" she growled, recovering from the kick.

"Not interested."

"Your hide then."

Meanwhile, the fight against the Ara was still going in full swing. So far, the drill was permanently taken care of, but as it turned out, it hid a powerful laser that could cut through anything. As it ripped through the ground in a huge yellow beam, Jewels, Radian, Cream, Omega and Emerl quickly got on either side. However, the chamber began to rumble.

"Ah! If this continues, this whole place is gonna go down!" Jewels yelled through her gritted fangs while struggling to keep her footing.

"Then we must tell them to stop at once!" Cream exclaimed.

"It won't be that simple!" Radian snapped from his corner, "The pirates only want us out of the way of their price. All pirates are that way!"

"Then we have to make them stop by force!" Emerl said bluntly.

"What do you have in mind?" Cream asked loudly.

"I have managed to scan the weak points of the machine," Omega announced. "We must attack the joints. Then a wind attribute attack will be useful for the final blow."

"Okay!"

"About time!"

"Got it!"

"All over it!"

Avoiding the rocks and bullet blasts, Jewels, Radian, Cream and Omega made their move. Each used their own attacks to attacks the chosen joints of the Ara. As soon as they made their marks, the machine crashed into the dirt.

"Oh no! Not again!" Moana wailed (no pun intended) as she tried to get the controls to work again. "Why does it always have to be like this! Every-freakin'-time!"

"So long, suckers!" Emerl snickered as he revved up another tornado in his hands, _"Hurricane Tornado!"_

"Oh, no you don't!" Bean started as he got on his feet and pulled out a purple bomb with a skull mark. "Hyper Bomb, away!" The blast-happy duck threw out the bomb with all his might and it got caught right in Emerl's tornado. A bright explosion happened, causing Samson, Nack, Kera and Skylark to get interrupted. This is also what caused the chamber to finally reach its limits.

"Shoot!" Moana swore over the loud noise. "The velocity of the tornado caused the bomb to explode more quickly than it normal does! Then the shockwave ripple through the chamber, causing more distress in the area!"

"English!" Bean yelled.

"The cave is going to…!"

Moana's words went deaf as the ground gave way and everyone standing on it sank through it. They all screamed at the top of their lungs as the fell into the darkness.

* * *

**CRASH!**

Larcen moved from the path as the giant hand came down, dust flying around. The robot continued to try and crush him as it made more pounds on the ground, forcing the hedgehog to jump around. The last attack made him go off balance, se he grab hold on to the hand. Larcen was forced to hold on tightly as the hand continued to fling in and out.

"AUUUUUURRRRRRRAHHHHHH!"

"Don't think for a moment that hanging on to that will do any good!" Eggman Nega sneered as he pushed a series of buttons on his controller. An electric shock erupted from the arm, electrocuting Larcen. He yelled out in pain, and was forced to let go. He dropped down as a smoking crisp.

"Larcen!" Marisa cried as she ran over and held him in her arms. "Larcen! Say something! Speak to me!"

The evil laughter echoed from the towering Nega Titan, prompting Marisa to look up. "At least that's one less hedgehog that I have to deal with!"

"You pathetic little-!" Shade didn't even finish her words as she charged in and sent her bombs at the Nega Titan. The three balls exploded once it hit the robot. Some smoke could be seen on its already cracking armor as it all cleared up. Shade then continued forward, avoiding the fists that tried to turn her into a pulp. Then she jumped to the right arm and sank her blade in. The machine was already beginning to rattle uncontrollable.

"Blast you, echidna!" Eggman Nega snarled as the working arm, the one that shocked Larcen, turned into a huge cannon. "I'll blast you out of existence!" he yelled as the cannon began to charge.

Shade narrowed her eyes as she ran forward. Again, she jumped and this time sent a fury of slashes at the Nega Titan, so fast that only purple blurs were seen. As she dropped down, Eggman Nega simply laughed.

"You fool! What did you hope to accomplish with such a puny attack?" he taunted. Shade just smiled.

"Whoever said it was an attack?"

Eggman Nega blinked at her reply. Looking at his machine's readout, he saw that that the cannon was suddenly shutting down. And on que, the only thing that came out of the cannon was a white puff and a fart noise.

_"I pooted."_

"What? No!" Eggman Nega demanded. "What have you done?"

"My Leech Blade," Shade said. "It has the ability to sap any power from anything it strikes. Your cannon is useless now."

Now Eggman Nega was furious. He had been outwitted, and by an echidna of all creatures. "You must think that you have me, don't you? Luckily, I'm not called the greatest scientific mind in the universe for nothing!" he shouted as he opened up compartments on both shoulders.

"What in the world?" Elise gasped. She had been looking after Larcen and Marisa when Shade took over.

The Mirror Madman took aim and fired red glop of goop onto them. The blobs hit them with a loud splat, trapping all of them inside.

"What is this?" Marisa shouted as she tried to tear the blob apart.

Eggman Nega cackled gleefully as the compartments sank back in. "And here I thought I didn't need that ectoblastic goop. Oh well, everything has its use, right?" He grinned manically as he eyed his trapped pray. "Now it seems I have one last problem I need to deal with: should I make this quick and painless, or should I do it slowly and mercilessly?"

"Stuff it, old man!" Shade yelled, glad that she got to insult someone else's age for a change.

"What did you say?" Eggman Nega growled. "Slowly and mercilessly it is!" The Egg Titan reared its fist back, ready for the last blow. "Don't worry; I will see to it that the rest of your friends will-!"

_"X Edge!"_

A huge X shaped fire suddenly cut through the air and crashed into the machine, scorching it up some more. Then a spinning missile came down and crashed into it. The drill dug deep into the armor while yelling, "A-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!" Eggman Nega cursed in fury and confusion as his beloved weapon recoiled from more damage. The missile landed near the captives and revealed himself to be Jam the Bat.

"Jam! You made it!" Marisa smiled as she burned through the goop, freeing everyone.

"Glad to see you're all alright," he said with a slight smile. But he didn't finish was he was going to say next when the giant hand smashed into him, making him fall on his back. The hand picked him up and placed in face to face to the glass that contained the irate Eggman Nega as he made his displeasure known.

"YOU INTERRUPTED MY SPEEEEECH!" Eggman Nega yelled through the loudspeakers, so loud that his scratchy voice hurt everyone's ears. (A/N: Sorry, couldn't think of anything else.) It especially hurt Jam, due to his large ears. "But don't worry," he added sinisterly, "It won't happen again!"

That was when a huge tower of water smashed upward into the Nega Titan, giving it more damage and forcing it to let go of Jam. Meiling quickly helped him back on his feat.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Aside from my eardrums ringing, I'm fine," he nodded as he rubbed his ears.

"Rrrrr!" Eggman Nega bellowed. His machine was now very unstable. One more blow was needed to finish it. "Why is it always like this! Why! What is that you have that I don't?"

"How about a big load of demon chi that is about to fry you!" Elise shouted. _"Metsu Hadoken!"_

After those words were spoken, a burst of outer-worldly chi smashed into the Nega Titan. Instantly, the thing exploded and pieces flew everywhere, forcing everyone to cover their eyes. After it all cleared, dust was all that was left.

"Huff… huff… that was tough…" Larcen panted, recovering from that shock.

"Yeah, but we beat him," Shade smiled. "Way-a-go, guys. Glad you and your friend showed up in time as well, Jam."

"Glad we came," Meiling smiled.

"Huh?" Marisa blinked as she saw something.

"What is it?" Elise asked. "Is something wrong?"

"There!"

Everyone followed to where she pointed. There, the saw Eggman Nega, who had somehow escaped from his doomed machine, was making a run for it.

"Eggman Nega!" everyone gasped.

"For a fat man, he can run fast!" Jam exclaimed.

"He's after the Chaos Emerald!" Marisa summarized. "Everyone, after him!"

* * *

Back in the depths of the pyramid, the Egg Sumo was still trying to crush rivals for all it was worth. Of course, due to the Egg Sumo's brute power, this made the stage become unstable, and ruble was falling down. Not that the sissy boy would listen.

"Grrr… this is nuts! As much as I wanna kick your ass, we don't have the time this!" Breezy shouted as jumped from another sumo slam.

Snively, however, still didn't get it, "I get it. Playing hard to get, aren't you? I like that in a woman. Now hold still…"

"No, wait!" Maria pleaded. "Please stop!"

The Egg Sumo jumped up and slammed a foot down to the ground. This caused a large shockwave to erupt and blow everyone across the room.

"Owww..." Athena groaned as she forced herself to stand up. "Nasty!..."

Shrugging off the debris that continued to fall down around them, the Egg Sumo the got up straight and charged towards its next target.

"Gadget! Move out of the way!" Breezy shrieked, instinctively dashing ahead of the Egg Sumo, scooping him in her arms and jumping out of the way just as the fat machine crashed to where he had been.

"Just what is the deal with that little pipsqueak anyway?" Snively demanded as the Egg Sumo pulled itself out. "He's just a short twin-tailed midget. What's great about him anyway?"

"Oh, you'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Breezy glared, still ascending from her jump. "Me and Gadget have been best friends for like, ever. I've always got his back and he's always got mine. He and I are joined at the hip!" Her scowl turned into a bright smile as she continued. "And he also smells like flowers in a summery field and his fur is super soft; great for cuddling! And ears very fluffy to play with and his cheeks are cute and squishy!"

As always, the said extraterrestrial fox in her arms flushed badly from her words.

"Why that little…" Snively snarled, "Take this!"

The Egg Sumo reached up and clapped its hands together, creating a huge shockwave, blowing Breezy and Gadget back to the ground.

"Ooh…" Breezy moaned as she struggled to get her senses back. Looking down, she saw Gadget nursing his head. His fur was dirty too. "You alright, buddy?"

"I'm ok," he nodded as he looked up at her.

"Guys? Guys!" Athena yelled over the rumbling. "Get up! This is going completely out of control!"

Maria added in her two cents, "Yes, this has gone long enough. We need to end this fight now."

"What do we do, then?" Breezy asked as she and Gadget got up. "That robot's armor is pretty tough."

"…But it doesn't seem strong enough to heat!" Athena said. "When I used one of my flame attacks, part of the metal started to melt. That's its biggest flaw!"

"So what do about that?" Breezy asked.

"Maria! Use a rock to throw me to that piece for scrap!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am! Just do it! We haven't much time!"

Tapping into her earth powers, Maria used one of the fallen rocks as a launch board for Athena. The cat jumped on as soon as it flew at the Egg Sumo. As a boost, she fired flames from the soles of her sneakers and rocketed up. In no time flat, she stuck herself the metal belly of the robot.

"Huh?" Snively wondered. The Egg Sumo's head peered at her.

"Time to burn! Athena glared as she started to glow in a fiery red. Instantly, a red glow began to spill from her and to the belly, meaning that was starting to get hot.

"What the…?" Snively gawked as he saw the readouts. His warning sirens were blaring like crazing. "Crud man! I knew I forgot something!"

After it was hot enough, Athena levitated away and into the air. She had put up her shield to defect the falling stones around her. "It's go time!"

Her friends grinned. Instantly, they all morphed into balls and shot at the melty part of the Egg Sumo. The machine exploded in a bright haze. More chunks of rock fell on top of the destroyed machine, covering up the explosion. After an awful thirty seconds, the quaking stopped. The room was a mess; shattered ceiling lay everywhere, and the four friends was looking about in a daze.

"Wow…" Athena managed to breathe out. "That was quite a trip."

"Snively…" Maria said quietly, "Is he…?"

"I'm not so sure…" Gadget said. "Bet we need to get going."

"Way ahead of you, Gadget," Breezy nodded.

Everyone nodded and raced out of the remains of the chamber.

* * *

Eggman Nega panted heavily as he ran to the last chamber. As fast as he surprisingly was, he was still just an old man after all. Suddenly, he saw it. There! In a white light on a pillar! The White Chaos Emerald shined deeply through the dim light.

"Hehehehehehee! Hahahahahahaa! At last I've found it! The final Chaos Emerald!" Eggman Nega laughed gleefully as he approached the pillar. "This mission may have cost me another weapon, but it was well worth it! Soon I'll have the other six in my possession, and then the Sol Emeralds will be next! And then my revenge will be complete and I will take over the world!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Eggman Nega's expression changed into a disgusted look as he turned around behind him. There behind him, his opponents were standing. "So you dare follow me, do you?"

Elise pointed at him with a glare, "We cannot allow you to have that Chaos Emerald! Not now, and definitely not ever!"

"So step away unless you want us to get physical," Marisa added, cracking her knuckles.

Eggman Nega simply twiddled his mustache, "Oh dear me, looks like you caught me with my guard down. Whatever shall I do?" he wondered with obvious sarcasm in his voice. Then he grinned as he took out a remote and pressed a button. Instantly, red lasers appeared around the first quarter of the hero team, trapping them in a tight fit.

"What is this suppose to be?" Shade demanded.

"I always knew my cage generator would come in handy one day," Eggman Nega chuckled as he put the remote away. A slight rumbling was felt, but he shrugged it off. "I advise all of you not to move, less you wish to be sliced into pieces. Now if you don't mind, I have an Emerald to acquirer…"

At that moment, the rumbling got louder and heavier. Then the ceiling started to collapse. Eggman Nega began to wobble around wildly, not being used to unstable environments such as this one. The heroes faired better though; the rocks on to the laser cage the surrounded them. Many rocks got sliced, as Eggman Nega said would happen, but then more rocks appeared to cover the lasers entirely. They all took the moment to move out of the way. What was going on and why were the rocks falling? Well…

"AAAAARRRRRGGGG!"

As soon as the shaking stopped, the room was now filled with noticeable more souls. One got up and began coughing.

"Damn it…" Nack growled as he got up. "Did anyone get the license plate number of the truck that hit me?"

"Ugh…" Kera groaned as she managed to dig her way out. Looking around, she saw Larcen, Marisa, Shade, Elise, Jam and Meiling. "Hey! All of you made it here as well, I see?"

"Nice to see you too," Larcen nodded back. "Is everyone else okay?"

"All~ accounted for," Cream said tiredly as she got up.

Skylark and the rest of his crew managed to dig themselves out as well. The leader of the pirates looked around and caught a glimpse of the Chaos Emerald. "Finally!" he shouted as he lunged at it. However, Larcen managed to zip in front of him, arms straight out. Skylark tried to get around him, but with every attempt, Larcen zipped ahead of him with little effort.

"Let me pass, boy," he glared.

"No way," Larcen answered. "This Emerald is more important than you think."

"He is right," the all turned to the voice and found Eggman Nega getting to his feet. "That is why I require it!"

"Forget it old man!" Nack frowned as he aimed his gun. "That Emerald is coming with us!"

"Over here!" came a voice from the entryway. Four more beings came through and stopped in their tracks upon seeing the quarrel. "Whoa. Mexican Standoff," Breezy muttered.

"Hey!" another voice called out. There came the form of the Snively, alive but barely. "I'm not… finished!"

"So you dug yourself out, eh?" Athena said as she looked at him. "Quite the aspiration, I'll give you that much."

"That Emerald is ours!" Skylark shouted.

"No it doesn't!" Larcen shouted it back.

"It belongs to me!" Eggman Nega yelled.

"What the hell are all of you arguing about!" Snively demanded.

Everyone was stunned by his outburst. "What do you mean, boy?" Eggman Nega frowned. "We are talking about…" he pointed at the pillar, and then he noticed something off. "…The Chaos Emerald is gone!"

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room gasped. They looked at where the Chaos Emerald once was. The pillar was now holding an odd looking round thing. A small beeping noise came out of it and a life sized hologram appeared, taking the form of…

"It's him!" Maria gasped.

"Mephiles!" Elise exclaimed.

"Wow… he's hideous!" Nack growled.

The holographic form of Mephiles bowed before speaking, _"Greetings friends. If thou art seeing this, then my servants must have taken the Chaos Emerald by now. That gives me a grand total of five Chaos Emeralds. However, I am still missing two more, and my plans are still far from over."_

"How dare that rat get in my way!" Eggman Nega hissed.

_"I like to give a good challenge, so I shall give you all one last chance to stop me,"_ Mephiles continued. _"There is one last place you will need to go if you want to have that chance. I want to see if you can find the holy grounds were to opposing forces clashed throughout the never-ending nights. The land of the ancient world! Do you have it in you to step foot in the forbidden wasteland?" _And with those words said, the hologram shut down.

"This is a bummer…" Moana frowned.

"Now what do we do?" Bean added.

Eggman Nega simply let out a "humph" as he turned around to leave.

"And where are you going?" Jam asked as he saw this.

"I came here for the Chaos Emeralds, that is true," Eggman Nega said, not even turning around. "Mephiles can do what he wants. He'll probably destroy this stupid world anyway. Once he does that, I'll destroy him. Now if you'll excuse me, it is time for me to polish my evil laugh." Before he could leave though, Elise cut ahead of him with surprising speed.

"Now, wait just a moment," the queen protested. "You are just going to let him do what he wants?"

"Out of my way!" he demanded.

"If you let Mephiles get away this, he might just destroy you along with all of us. Then you won't be able to change the future like you wanted. Is that what you want?"

Eggman Nega frowned. The only thing he wanted was to get revenge on Sonic, Shadow, and the rest of their friends for trapping him in the Chaotic Inferno. That and world domination of cause. But… if what this woman said was true, he won't get that chance if he just lets it be.

To help or not to help? That was the question.

A/N: I know its been a while since I last updated but I had a lot of things to think over. I hate long gaps as much as the next guy, so sorry for the wait.


	24. Brave of Grave

**Chapter 24: Brave of Grave  
**

"I can't believe I am doing this…" Eggman Nega growled, "Allying myself with my sworn enemies! This is absurd! And this train is ridiculously low-tech! It is most defiantly a mere child's toy compared to my masterpieces."

"Oh please, like you had any choice in the matter," Snively snorted.

"Silence boy!" Eggman Nega snapped. "I'll get to you…"

With the last Chaos Emerald take from under their noses, the party regrouped into the Thunder Trail. The rivals teamed up with the heroes, seeing that they're plans were being threatened. Eggman Nega originally wanted no part of it. Unlike his ancestor, he didn't want to be mixed up with the heroes, even if everything was at stake. Elise managed to convince Eggman Nega into helping them stop Mephiles. Now everyone was riding the train, through the forests of Left Storm.

"Alright, you have our attention now," Skylark said, arms folded, "What does this Mephiles want with the Chaos Emeralds? He obviously has no intention of selling them."

"The Chaos Emeralds are seven powerful jewels with the power to decide the fate of the world," Larcen told him. "Used in good hands, they can create miracles. But if used in the wrong hands," he trailed off as he glared at Eggman Nega, "They could destroy us."

"Hey! Why were you glaring at me when you said that just now!" Eggman Nega raged.

"You're the evil mad scientist. You figure it out," Larcen retorted.

"So, all this time we've been hunting for power keys and not treasure?" Moana gaped. "I didn't hear about any of this!"

"Not many people know about Chaos Emeralds, so it's not unlikely that you didn't know," Jam told them.

"So, other than that, what else can these 'Chaos Emeralds' do?" Nack asked.

"I'm not to sure," Elise deduced. "They're plenty of other things that the Chaos Emeralds are capable of, including time travel, that I know. Of course, there are alternate means of time travel…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the year 1985, an old man with wavy white hair sneezed loudly as he placed the finishing touches on a modified DeLorean.

"Great Scott!"

* * *

"…But with Mephiles involved, there is no telling what will happen to the Emeralds," Elise finished.

"There is one kind of information that he gave us," Kera said. "He wants us to find the holy grounds where to opposing forces clashed throughout the never-ending nights. The land of the ancient world. The forbidden wasteland. What does all that mean?"

"Are you sure we should trust him?" Marisa asked suspiciously.

"As of right now, we don't have much of a choice," Cream shrugged.

"Hmm…" Violet said thoughtfully with her eyes closed. "I have a way that we can find out. Oh Athena, a private sheet if you will?"

Athena nodded, know exactly what she meant. With a flick of her hand, both Snively and Eggman Nega were sent flying into a closet. The door shut and locked them in. The Robotniks started to bang on the door and yell in outrage.

"Now what was that all about?" Radian asked.

"For several obvious reasons," Athena said, dusting her hands. "Alright Violet, go ahead and do your thing."

Violet gave a nod and closed her eyes, going into a trance-like state as her mind astral-projected into the Gaia Library. Everyone who had not seen this before now looked in awe and slight worry.

"Hey Daisy, what's wrong with Violet?" Eli asked.

"Well, you know how Violet always says that she know everything, right?" Several heads nodded. "She's not exactly lying. You can say that her mind works like a search engine on the Internet. All the info in her mind is like the Internet and has every information found on Earth, so to access the information she needs the appropriate keywords. It's an information mindscape that she calls the Gaia Library."

"Fascinating…" Kera commented with an arched eyebrow.

"Is that so?" Elise added. "And I went through all that trouble to get through the G.U.N.'s security."

"But how exactly did Senorita Violet get all that information downloaded in her mind anyway?" Samson asked.

"Tails and Cosmo know," Galaxina spoke up, "But they aren't too keen in talking about it. I'm not too sure, but something may have happened to Violet when she was younger. Someone must have given her access to the Gaia Library or something."

"Really?" Molly asked her. "Who?"

"Someone named 'Goldman' or something. Other than that, I don't know," Galaxina answered with a shrug.

"So that's way you tossed the Robotniks into that closet?" Marisa asked, pointing at the shaking door.

"Mad scientists + access to every information on Earth = big disaster," Athena told her.

"Good point," Moana nodded. "Well, you won't have to worry about us. We may be pirates, but we're not common criminals."

"What she said," Bean said hurriedly.

In the Gaia Library, Violet began her search. "Begin Search… Keywords: Holy grounds…. Ancient world. Ancient war… Forbidden wasteland…"

Molly was about to ask another question, but Maria shushed her, "Anything, Violet?" she asked.

Inside the Gaia Library, shelves and shelves of books were being removed as per the parameters of Violet's search. It didn't take long before a single stack of shelves remained. From those shelves a single booked hovered with the word 'wasteland' etched on the cover. Violet stepped forward and took the book before opening it. Reading over the pages, she found only one word in it.

"I've got something. I know where Mephiles wants us to go," Violet answered, shutting the book.

"Great!" Daisy's voice echoed in the blank space. "Come on back and tell us what you found!"

Violet's piercing blue eyes blinked opened and she spoke the location. "The Holy Summit."

"So that's it?" Shade stated. "I remember that place. The Nocturnus Tribe and Eclipse tribe would often battle each other there. That must have been what Mephiles was talking about."

"Then that's where we need to go," Jewels nodded. "Alright Athena, you can let those two out now."

Upon Jewels' request, the closet door unlocked, allowing the two Robotniks to stumble out and fall on their faces. "What was the meaning of that?" Eggman Nega demanded.

"Yeah! What gives?" Snively added.

"Oh, we just wanted to show you the closet we had," Breezy lied offhandedly, "Didn't it look lovely?"

"What are you trying to pull, hedgehog?" Eggman Nega growled.

"Nothing," she shrugged.

After a little more waiting, the train finally pulled up near the Holy Summit. The neophyte heroes, along with Cream, Charmy, Elise, Shade, Marine, the Dynamite Syndicate and the Robotniks stepped out and looked at the mountains. The place nearly resembled Mystic Ruins for the most part.

"Hmm… isolated area… plenty of room…" Snively mumbled to himself. Then he grinned, "My kind of place!"

"Worry about that later," Skylark frowned. Then he turned his technician expert, "Moana, anything out of the ordinary here?"

The killer whale had some sort of blue devise over her left eye as she combed the area. "Hmm…" she thought out loud while taping some small buttons on her machine. From her point of view, several characters that she could understand gave her the readout, "My scouter is telling that something is going on over at the northeast. Maybe that's where Mephiles is?"

"Then we had better make hast," Eggman Nega declared. "The sooner we waste his efforts, the sooner we can get back to business!"

"First thing you said that I can agree with!" Bean chortled as he dropped to the lower level. Everyone followed suit.

Elise sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her blue eyes then turned up to the sky, "A storm is brewing…"

She was right. A dark cloud with thundering flashes was appearing in the sky. From certain experiences, a storm like that could only mean one thing: crazy stuff is about to happen.

* * *

Some time later in the summit itself, Shade was walking through the valley. She pulled out her own radar and saw that it was beeping quickly. Looking to her left, she saw a cavern entrance that the radar was point to. As she took a few steps closer, she saw her radar was beeping faster. Seeing that something was up, she made a loud whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone!" she called out, "I've got something!"

They all went to her direction and looked at where she was pointing, "What is it?" Emerl asked.

"I'm detecting high amounts of abnormal energy from that cavern," she explained. "I'm guessing that's where Mephiles is hiding."

"And now… where another step closer in stopping Mephiles and finding our moms and dads!" Maria nodded.

"But… what does that guy have in store for us?" Moana asked, stuttering. "From what he looked like, I could tell that he's capable of a lot of things…"

"We fought him once before," Kera told her, "Even though he seemed to be toying with us, he could have killed us had not Emerl intervened."

Emerl added his own two cents, having scanned Mephiles' battle data back at Casino Park, "Aside from having control over time, he also has power over earth elements and absolute Dark Chaos Energy. He's really tough, that's for sure."

"'Tough' is an underestimate," Larcen said.

"If all of you are done jabbering, we have something to take care of," Eggman Nega snapped as he walked ahead.

"My, my, my, he's much more of a stoic than Dr. Eggman," Elise mused.

"He's right though," Charmy said. "We'd better follow him, or we'll get left behind."

* * *

The inside wasn't all that dark, but the cyan lanterns on top of the columns that stood on both sides of the cavern was glowing all the way. There, they saw something attached to the wall.

"What's that?" Larcen said as he pointed.

Breezy, Maria, Athena, Jewels, Jam and Meiling ran up to get a closer look. On the wall that was over a lake was something gold. It looked like a huge piece of a gold disk, with a dragon on it. It looked like something too…

"It looks like that gold piece we saw back in Hot Craters!" Kera said as she, Gadget, Larcen, Marisa and Samson joined them.

"So then that's…" Samson started.

"The last Sanpglyph piece!" Marisa said.

"So, how exactly are going to take this thing?" Jam asked.

Before anyone could offer an answer, the Sanpglyph piece disappeared in purple lights. All looked at the empty space in shock.

"It's gone?" Meiling gasped.

"What happened?" Jam asked incredulously.

"We happened," said a voice. In flashes of light, Darcy and Rothion appeared before the heroes in training. "We couldn't just let you take what we needed, now could we?" Darcy smirked as she tossed the now shrinking gold piece in her hands.

"Darcy and Rothion?" Larcen frowned. "Give it here. Now!"

"No," Rothion shook his head, "We cannot do that. Not now that we have all that we need!" At those words, Darcy tossed the piece up high, and then it vanished in blue light.

"Dang!" Jewels growled, "We got here too late!"

"But you still have two Chaos Emeralds," Darcy frowned, pointing at them, "And we owe you for that little stun that you pulled back in White Acropolis. I say it's high time that we ended this little rivalry!"

"Stop!" Radian tried to rush in to assist. However before he and the others (that were willing to help that is) could get to them, they were suddenly encased in a globe of darkness, courtesy of Darcy, temporarily holding them in place.

"Hey, woman! Get us out!" Bean barked. He threw one if his trademark bombs at the orb to try and break it, but it exploded once it hit, doing absolutely nothing.

"Now, now; it's rude to interrupt the show!" Darcy mocked.

"This time, you will not survive heroes!" Rothion shouted, bringing his axe into play. "And then your friends will be next!"

"We'll have to see about that, now won't we?" Breezy frowned as she went into a combat stance, her friends following up. Kera brought out her Dragon Sword, while Meiling took out her staff and Samson drew out his pistols.

"Now just roll over and die!" Rothion shouted as threw his axe at them, causing them to scatter around.

Kera skid into a crouch and light her sword glow with fire. She slashed wildly, sending blades of heat at Rothion. The owl managed to absorb some of the flames, but not all of it as the attack came too quickly. Then he jumped up and laughed manically as he sent her attack back with extreme predigest. Kera spun her sword in front of her, deflecting the fire.

"Hehehehe! Not bad!" Rothion laughed as he curled up into a ball with his axe sticking out and lunged at her. Kera quickly made a back-flip to avoid getting cut in half. After he landed, Rothion began to slash at her, forcing her to retreat anyway she could. After a couple of swings, he sent a fist at her face, making her stager back. Rothion grinned as he jumped up and held his axe for an overhead swing, aiming to end her. Luckily, Kera recovered fast enough to drop down on her back and kick Rothion away, just as he got to her.

"Hey, buddy! Remember me!" Jewels shouted as she ran at Rothion while he was getting up. She pulled her fist back and threw it forward with great force. Rothion turned around just in time to grab it in his fist, the force of it causing him to get pushed back thunderously, his boots getting buried in the dirt.

"You are such a nuisance," Rothion frowned.

"Takes one to know one," Jewels frowned back. She reared her other fist back and sent it at his face. Rothion moved his head to avoid it and threw Jewels to the side. She quickly got up and allowed her fist to burn with fire. She rushed forward again and started throwing burning punches at him. Each fist was made into a burning streak as she continued her attack. When she threw an attack that made a fist slam into the ground, she created a huge shockwave that made dirt and ash shoot upward. More burning fists, and another fist gets slammed into the ground in the same way. She continued with her attacks, making Rothion back into a wall. Jewels charged in. Rothion ducked and rolled out of the way, just as she slammed her fist in cause the stone wall to crack up with flames erupting from them.

Larcen was next at bat as he ran up to Rothion with his enhanced speed, jump at sent rapid kicks, causing Rothion to block each attack. But he wasn't done yet, for once he landed he sent an up-draft kick at Rothion's beck. The Dark Magician flew backwards while dragging his axe in the dirt to keep him steady. The blade of his weapon made a deep imprint of his trail.

Just as he landed, a huge dragon of water erupted from the lake and lunged at him, catching him in its jaws. It flew up into the ceiling and crashed in a shower of liquid. As the shower settled, Rothion and Meiling landed on either side from each other.

"Die evil one!" Meiling shouted as she rushed in and swung her staff at him. Rothion tried to cut the stick with his axe, but it was made up of some kind of material that couldn't be cut so easily. So he resorted to block each attack that she dished out. After he made a back flip to avoid another attack, he grabbed the staff in his arms and hoisted her Meiling up in the air, catching her be surprise.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Rothion laughed. Rothion tried to smash her into a wall that was next to them, but Meiling was too clever to fall for that. As she reached the wall, she aimed her feet at it, making a small crater as she made contact and stood. Then she resumed her grip on her staff and used it to toss Rothion away.

"You're mine!" Jam yelled as he flew at Rothion and slammed into him like a football star. Rothion skid to a halt as the bat landed. Jam then slammed his hands into the ground, causing several slabs of stone to fly out and lung at Rothion. The owl quickly slashed at each stone to render them useless.

"Is that the best you can do?" Rothion ridiculed.

"Not by a long shot!" Jam bellowed. He rushed in again and sent his super strong kicks at the owl. It didn't take long for Rothion to grab him by the wings and send him aside. As he tumbled, Jewels caught him.

"Let's double team on him!" Jewels said.

"Yeah!" Jam grinned.

The siblings rushed at Rothion and began to send their signature kicks and punches on him. He wasn't about to back out, so he sent kicks and punches of his own. Rothion was skilled, that was for sure, but he didn't comprehend connection that Jam and Jewels had. They fought in sync; they knew exactly how to approach him together. In short, Rothion didn't know what hit him once the siblings sent a double fist in his face, making him stagger back into the dirt. Then Kera and Meiling joined the fight as the two weapon bearers sent their own attacks. Lastly, Larcen joined in, and Rothion soon found himself cornered.

"Enough!" Rothion shouted as he slammed his axe to the ground, causing a large shockwave to force his adversaries back. "How dare you corner me like that!"

"Stop complaining!" Jam shouted as he and everyone else recovered.

"Humph!" Rothion growled. "Whatever you are trying to do, it will not work!"

"Then I dare you to try us!" Kera challenged.

"That I shall!" Rothion confirmed as he rushed at them.

Meanwhile the other heroes were holding their own against Darcy. The witch in question was shielding herself with her wings to block all the shots that Samson fired at her. Amazingly, her wings were harder than steal.

"Are done yet?" Darcy shouted in irritation as she spread out her wings, causing a huge gust wind to blow at Samson and knocking him off his feet. "You're pissing me off!"

Samson flipped back onto his feet after the flight, just as Darcy charged at him. Samson jumped over her and fire red shots down below. Darcy countered by sending dark orbs. Each attack was canceled in red and black explosions.

"Surprise!" Darcy looked to her right and flew up to avoid a rushing stream of flames. She landed in a heavy thud and turned to face Athena.

"You'll pay for that one, Hong Kong kid!" she hissed as she produced a dark orb about the size of a beach ball and threw it. Knowing that it wasn't a good idea to be near that thing, let alone get hit by it, she leapt over. The ball hit her former location and exploded in a shower of dark matter.

"Heeee-yaaa!" Athena cried as she sent a well placed foot against Darcy's face. The bat was forced backwards and she nursed her face.

"Come on! There's still plenty of fight in me!" Athena said as she resumed her kung fu stance.

"Whatever you say," Darcy huffed as she ran forward and connected it with a flying kick. Athena sidestepped out of the away, just as Darcy stopped herself in time to send a couple more fists and punches. Athena managed to parry each attempt. But then Darcy made a sweep kick to trip the cat on to her back. Before for she could get back up, she was held down by her throat.

"Now we'll see how tough you really are…" Darcy grinned menacingly as her green/blue eyes shitted into the red of the Tsukuyomi Sharingan. Athena's golden eyes widen in terror.

"NO!" Maria cried as she fired a larger Chaos Bloom near them, causing Darcy to be distracted. Then she raced up and sent a powerful kick, knocking her away from Athena. She turned to her friend and helped her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Athena nodded shakily. She dusted her clothing and hair. "I thought she was going to make me freak out like you did days ago. Thanks."

Maria smiled and nodded. Then her smile turned into a cold frown as she turned to face Darcy. "I will not let you use that horrid power on anyone else."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Darcy shot back.

Maria answered the question by clench her fists and focusing her power on Mother Earth. The arena began to shake and rumble, causing Darcy to stumble and fall unceremoniously on her tail. Quickly, she flew up into the air and hovered away from the growing natural disaster.

"How stupid can you be?" Darcy asked incredulously. "There is no earthquake in the world that can-!"

_"DUG HALT!" _

Darcy's rant was cut short when super sharp stone spears flew from the ground and right at Darcy. The witch's eyes widen in shock.

"Oh… crap!"

Summoning her blade, she began to cut and slice the spears that tried to fill her with holes. Narrowly missing one, she flew up and around to avoid the rest to the best of her ability. Another spear grazed her wing, and she was sent tumbling to against a wall, losing her blade while doing so. When she did, a green ball of sparkling electromagnetic energy crashed into her, making her fly back up. The ball reformed back into Gadget, who hovered in front of her.

"Either you're really brave or really stupid!" Darcy snarled, sending waves of darkness at him Gadget yelped as he flew over and under the blasts. He continued to try and fly away from the attacks. Darcy laughed as she continued to fire at the poor boy, obviously enjoying what she was doing.

"Lay off my little buddy!" Breezy in ball form yelled as she slammed into Darcy, forcing her back to the ground. Darcy growled as she slowly got to her feet, she saw a huge ball of lighting, courtesy of Marisa, coming her way. Darcy backed up and shield her eyes as the lighting ball exploded in sparkles.

"That's it! No more playing around!" swore Darcy. If one could look closely, they could see small cracks appearing on the gem of Darcy's left shoulder.

"Oh?" Marisa said as she appeared from the lighting blast, "I thought you've been serious the whole time."

"You haven't seen me when I'm serious yet!" Darcy promised. "I believe it's time for a switch!"

"What are you talking about?" Samson said as he appeared behind her. At that minute, Kera crashed upside-down on a wall adjacent to them.

"Kera?" Marisa gasped as she dashed up to her.

"It means…" Rothion said as he approached. Darcy wrapped to his side. "That it is time that we even the odds a little!"

"So now their attacking together this time?" Marisa frowned as she helped Kera up. "That's a given."

"As if they weren't hard enough to handle when we fought them separately," Kera added.

"I still can't risk using my magic on that owl," Marisa told her. "He'll just send it right back at me."

"Good point," the oldest hedgehog nodded. "I have an idea…"

"Even the odds, you say?" Jam yelled as he dove at them with a Drill Kick, "Like that's gonna help!" The evil pare got out of the way just as Jam landed, dirt flying up. Darcy hovered away from him while firing a dark orb. Jam also hovered back as he sent a burning kick. Another explosion blew them back. The force of it sent Jam into the lake.

"I have a score to settle with you, Darcy!" Kera shouted as she lunged at her. She started to send a series of slashes and stabs at the bat. Kera forced her at the edge of a lake while the sword was being blocked by the dark shield. As Darcy was being kept in a deadlock, she noticed some movement reflecting on the Dragon Sword. Behind her was Marisa, charging up for another electricity spell. Just as she mystic fired, Darcy pushed Kera into the lake. The Sword Demon shouted in surprise as the she was sent into the lake with a splash. The thunder struck their former position in a huge thunder blast. As the smoke cleared, Marisa gasped at what she saw.

Rothion chuckled darkly as he axe cackled with lighting. "Hm, that was an impressive plan you had there. To bad that you didn't know that the both of us could swap positions if one was in danger." Rothion grinned as he raised the axe up high. "Don't think I have forgotten about my little advantage over you! The only thing you are good at is magic! And for your folly, you will now be the first to DIE!" and he laughed madly as he shot the lighting blast back at her.

Marisa felt her legs freeze over as the attack approached her. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. 'I can't die here… not like this…!' Furrowing her eyebrows, she raised her gloved hands in front of her. The attack struck her hands and she was forced back. Her feet started to get buried in the ground as the force. The sheer force was sending violent gust winds around her.

"Persistent worm!" Rothion growled. "Why won't you just give up and die already!"

Marisa slowly moved her head up, her glowing red eyes opening and her teeth clenched. "I… won't… LOSE!" she roared as she pushed her arms forward. The lighting attack was sent straight back and at Rothion's chest.

Scratch that. **Through** Rothion's chest.

Rothion's green eyes widen in shock as the lighting bolt pierced through his chest plate and ripped through his back like a hot knife. As the attack died down, everyone who was fighting turned to see what just happened. Jam and Kera sat up from the lake and gasped at the outcome, as did the prisoners that were still being held in the dark orb. Darcy's eyes were wide with her lips quivering as she saw what happened from the air.

Rothion coughed as he looked at his wound as he removed his hand. Black liquid was pouring out of it, and his glove was stained from the blood. He turned back up and looked at Marisa with a pained expiration, who was quivering at what she just did. "Well played, Harmon…" he panted as blood slowly poured from his beak.

Marisa said nothing as she sank to her knees, both winded from her counter attack and still stunned by her act.

Feeling his strength leaving him, he dropped his axe, which landed in a loud clank. The axe slowly evaporated in a black mist. Rothion staggered backwards to the lake as he too was starting to have black mist seep off him. "Well played indeed…" and with those final words spoken, time slowed down as Rothion fell backwards into the lake just as the nothingness overtook him. As the splash settled, all that was left of him was a black oily image of him, which soon separated into the lake.

Marisa started whimpering. What has she done? Sure the owl was evil and tried to kill her… but… never before had she taken another life. She stared down at her hands. These hands have killed. Now soiled with blood… in a figurative sense.

When all of that happened, Darcy was having an unexpected reaction. Aside from her wings, she was very still. A tear could be seen running down her left eye. Unknown emotions began to mix within her for an interesting combo.

"Something is wrong…" Athena said suddenly, looking up at her, "Her dark power is growing… and its spiking fast!"

"You killed my brother…" she whispered, "…You KILLED my brother…" she muttered louder. Cracks slowly started to appear on the two gems on her shoulders, allowing red mist to seep out. Her fangs began to extend as she gave Marisa the most venomous death glare ever in history. "... YOU — KILLED — MY — BROTHER!"

And that was it. The gems instantly broke apart and Darcy released a bloodcurdling scream as neon red bats erupted from her body and enveloped her. All but Marisa looked on in shock as form began to change. Her wings became wider and her body slightly larger. Her tail became longer and pointed. Her fingers slowly formed into claw features. Once the bats separated, everyone saw her in a new form. She now had on a blood red two-piece armor and boots. Her eyes were now red all over and sparkled with dark power.

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Darkwing Darcy shrieked as her wings shot a rain of blood red razor blades at Marisa, who was still absentminded by the whole thing.

"MARISA!" Larcen shouted. Summoning all the speed he could muster, he shot himself over to her and pushed her from harms way, just as the blades smashed into the dirt, dust and stone flying out.

"Senorita Marisa!" Samson cried. Jewels also gasped in shock as this now insane minion to Mephiles was now out for the sage's blood.

"You killed my brother!" Darkwing Darcy screeched in a now disorient voice. "You killed him! You killed the only thing that I ever considered family! You must not live! Marisa Harmon must not live!"

"She's lost herself!" Kera shouted as she and Jam stood up from the lake. "Those gems on her shoulders must have been holding back her true power! Seeing Marisa kill Rothion must have made her snap!"

"Then she's gotten stronger?" Breezy asked. "How do we stop her now?"

"Since all the power was locked away before," Athena started, "My best guess is that she doesn't use it all the time. That means that she can only use so much of her full power before she tires herself out!"

"Alright!" Kera said as she and Jam jumped out of the lake to join the others, still drenched. "Then we need to get her to exhaust herself so that we can take her out in one blast! Breezy! Maria! It's time for you both to use your Chaos Emeralds!"

"Right!" both nodded.

Darkwing Darcy continued to screech as she flew after Larcen and Marisa like a mad bat out of Hell, which ironically she basically was now. Jewels quickly jumped up and grabbed hold of her tail, bringing her down. Then she threw the demonic bat into a huge stone, making it break as contact was made.

"Rrrrrr… DON'T GET IN MY WAY!" Darkwing Darcy shrieked and fired soundwave blast from her mouth. Maria quickly summoned a wall of rock to block. A dusty explosion was a result.

_"Hurricane Hailstorm!"_ Breezy shouted as she slammed her fist into the ground. A huge gale erupted from the ground and rushed at Darkwing Darcy. Darkwing Darcy let her wings out as swooped around the wind, letting it crash into the wall. She fired dark beams from her eyes and at the heroes. Kera slashed at each of the beams, deflecting them safely.

Jam bared his fangs as he let his feet turn ablaze, and sent a flaming bolt kick with an "A-TA!". It struck the giant bat on the left wing and it caused her to sheik in pain and fury. She rolled to her side and stood up, trying to shake the pain away.

"Looks like she can't think straight either," Samson blinked.

"This is our chance! Let's go!" Breezy shouted. She curled up into a ball and charged herself with the Chaos Emerald. She shot forward in a blast of blue and purple. She it the demon bat hard on the chest and pushed her back, though she offered some resistance. The boots were being dragged into the dirt as the first continued to press harder. Having enough, the bat roared as she unleashed and invisible barrier blast to knock the hedgehog away. Breezy crashed into the dirt.

"Oh my!" Maria gasped as she ran to help her friend.

"You dirty bastards! If you insist on getting in my way, then I'll make you all SUFFER!" Darkwing Darcy cried. Two ghoulish gargoyles appeared beside her and rushed at them. They all tensed, anticipating them to attack. Without warning, the gargoyles flashed just as they got within range, and exploded. Sending them all flying. They crashed into random directions, not expecting that at all.

"How long should we keep this up?" Maria asked Breezy as she helped her friend up.

"Just enough to tire her out," Breezy said.

"What about Marisa?"

"I'm sure Larcen will defend her," Kera remarked, staggering to her feet and keeping her sword stance. "He always does. Right now, we can't let her get to them!"

Speaking of which, Larcen was trying to shake Marisa out of her trance. Her head was still down and her red hair covered her face. "Marisa! Wake up! You can't stay like this! You have to move!"

The girl didn't respond. She just continued to mutter that incoherent whimpering.

"Come on! We have to get moving! Darcy will kill you if you don't get up!"

The girl didn't move.

"Marisa, I know that you aren't the kind of person who would kill willingly, but you did it to defend yourself! Don't beat yourself up because of this!"

The girl remained stationary.

"…Damnit Marisa! I know you can hear me! Why won't you answer me?..." He griped her shoulders harder as his head moved down, trying to force back the tears appearing from his eyes. "You're my best friend… in fact… you're more then just that… I like you a lot…so just wake up… please… we need you… I need you…" Slowly, Larcen felt a pair of arms snake around his neck and tug him forward. He stayed silent as the girl embraced him and rested her face against his quills.

"Larcen…" Marisa whispered tenderly as she stroked his head, "Thank you, Larcen."

"Marisa…" Larcen sighed.

The pair continued to stay in each other's arms for a while. Then the released each other, "I'm sorry for freaking out like that, Larcen," she smiled. "Wanna help the others?"

"I think they've got everything under control," Larcen said, "Besides, you still look a bit pale."

Marisa was about to replied, but then she saw some red liquid fall from Larcen's back. Looking around him, she gasped as she saw a deep slash mark on his back. "Larcen! You're bleeding!"

"It's a scratch," he denied, though the painful look on his face betrayed it.

"Oh, this is my fault!" Marisa sobbed, "We have to get Maria to heal you and fast!"

Meanwhile, everyone else had there hands full. Darkwing Darcy was too out of control, like a wild beast. All of them panted as the faced down the staggering demon bat. She was beginning to get weaker. The said bat snarled as she chose another alternative. She turned around and used her claw-like fingers to climb up the wall.

"This is it!" Breezy shouted as she clenched her glowing Emerald. _"Boomer Breeze!"_ She moved around sent a purple boomerang from her kick. The boomerang flew at the bat as she was still climbing and exploded against her. This caused her to fall.

"Now! Together!" Maria shouted as she clenched her Emerald. _"Chaos Sniper!"_

_"Fire Psycho Bomb!"_

_"X Edge!"_

Jewels fired her flame punches while Samson fired his guns, Kera used a Ki strike and Meiling shot out a water attack from the lake. All attacks connected and resulted in a huge explosion, making everyone shield their eyes. As the dust cleared, they now saw Darcy back in her normal state, though the gems on her shoulders were still broken. She had used up all of her power and all she could do was hold her arm and glare.

"How…how could you…?" Darcy struggled to say, moaning in pain. "I'm…supposed to be… I'm suppose…"

"Save your breath," Athena said as she stood up. "You're washed up; burned out like and overnight campfire."

"Do you always have to say those flame puns?" Samson whispered to her.

"Hey, I made that one up!" Athena whispered back.

Darcy hissed as she shot an eye-blast near them, catching them by surprise. "Just because you defeated me today doesn't mean that I lost ALL of my powers. You just wait... I'll get you yet!" Then she shifted her eyes past Maria and bared her fangs. "And then I will get YOU." And she vanished in a blue flash of light, she was gone.

"Huh?" Maria wondered as she looked behind her.

"Maria! Help!" Marisa cried as she carried Larcen in her arms. Her right arm was soaked in his blood. "Larcen is hurt!"

"What?" she gasped as she took a few steps closer. Everyone else turned to see this.

"He was hurt trying to protect me," Marisa said sadly, "He must have taken one of Darcy's blows by accident."

"Set him down," the black echidna instructed. Marisa did so, and Maria then did her handiwork. One green flash later, the slash wound was no more. The painfully look on Larcen's face slow diminished as he opened his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Jam asked as he walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Larcen nodded. "Thanks."

"That was a deep gash you had there," Samson said as the rest of team joined them. "Glad Senorita Maria fixed it."

Marisa knelled down until she was face to face with him. "That was really brave, Larcen," she said as she smiled warmly at him, "Thank you."

Larcen blushed and looked away. "I can't lose anymore people who are close to me. I already lost my parents… I can't let anyone else follow suit."

"Well, that was very considerate of you. You're a great friend," she smiled, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Larcen's eyes lit up and he blushed as red as a strawberry.

"Real smooth," Kera snickered as she saw that.

The rest of the group joined up with them, due to the orb which Darcy trapped them in vanishing. "That was the most climatic battle I have ever seen since the fight with Ifrit!" Eggman Nega complemented, something that he had no problem doing. "I appear to have gained more respect for you heroes, but now it seems I would have to increase my machines power to defeat you once this is all over!"

"Yeah, whatever," Nack offed. "It looks like the only thing we can do now is to take the fight to Mephiles. Let's go!"

"Right, let's keep moving," Radian nodded.


	25. The Army of Darkness

**Chapter 25: The Army of Darkness**

The trip to the Holy Summit was an interesting one. The heroes ended up losing the last pieces of the Sanpglyph, and fought Darcy and Rothion one last time. Marisa ended up killing Rothion in self-defense and in turned caused Darcy to go berserk. It turned out that she and Rothion were sister and brother. Darcy was finally defeated, but she promised her return, as well as swearing revenge on Marisa. Now on the path to Mephiles' hide out, Elise told more about what Mephiles had done to them. She told them EVERYTHING.

Breezy, Maria and Athena were most unhappy to hear about more of the evil hedgehog's misdeeds.

"That scumbag! I can't believe he did all that!" Breezy yelled angrily. "That big good-for-nothing jerk!"

"He smooth talks his way in and cause all kinds of distress for our parents!" Athena growled. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna tear him up molecule by molecule!"

Maria was also angry, and though her expression was hidden by her lowered face and floating dreadlocks, her aura made up for it. Everyone that was near her scooted away as the negative killing intent became more intense. She was one of those kinds of girls that didn't get angry often, but was very scary if she ever did. That was more evidence that she was in fact the daughter of Shadow the Hedgehog.

"I will kill him," she hissed in an uncharacteristically cold voice, "I will not let this injustice go overlooked. How dare he do that to my daddy? I will bury him in the ground and leave him there to rot!"

"B-But… he's Mephiles the Dark!" Daisy stammered. "Even with all of you fighting him, you still couldn't beat him!"

"It doesn't matter!" Breezy retorted. "We'll find a way to beat him. And besides, we can't let him get away with what he did all those years ago!"

"So you're still trying to 'avenge' your dad?" Larcen asked her.

"Of course! And everyone else too!"

"Daisy's got a point though," Kera said. "We all know what he can do, but we still don't know what he wants with the Chaos Emeralds. We have to figure out his plans now."

"With what we currently have now, that's not possible," Larcen sighed.

"Mephiles was always good at hiding," Elise grimaced with her arms crossed. "Back then, he may have left some clues to be figured out, but none of them were enough to learn about at he was after."

"And when he decided that it was time to strike, 'KA-POW.' No one knew what hit them," Chrysanthemum added.

"So where are we headed now?" Sunseed asked.

"I managed to get a pinpoint location on all three of the Sanpglyph pieces," Daisy explained. "Since all three are together, their signatures are stronger. We've almost reached where he could be hiding."

Cream walked to the window and peered outside. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw several familiar ruins passing by. These particular ruins had drawings of Chao on them. Even more surprising, several Chao could be seen as the train continued to pass.

"This is Chao Ruins!" Cream said, flabbergasted. "Why would Mephiles want to hide here?"

"I remember reading a book that said a legendary beast was sleeping here," Larcen pondered. "You do think…?"

Larcen's statement was cut off when Violet came running from the captain's chamber. "Everyone! There's a missile headed right for us!"

"A missile!" Galaxina gasped.

"It looks like a missile, but you wouldn't see flying jewels heading for you with deadly accuracy everyday, now would you?"

"Let me see!" Jam shouted, getting a closer look. Everyone followed behind him and looked on in shock. In deed it was a green jewel shard about the size of a missile. It was flying straight at them with deadly speeds. Everyone aboard gave the own reaction of shock and fear. Zed, however, summed up the situation best of all.

"Oh, f**k me!"

**KA-BLAM!**

The missile hit and the Thunder Trail instantly caught up in flames with a huge explosion. The large bonfire erupted in a huge mass of fire as it burned wildly. It almost seemed like no one made it out. That was until a red bubble descended down from the sky, clear away from the fire. The bubble dissipated, revealing that Athena had used her psychic powers to save everyone in a nick of time. The said cat moaned as she nearly passed out, but Jewels caught her.

"Hey, take it easy," Jewels told her.

"Thanks," Athena smiled sheepishly, "That nearly wiped me out."

"Nooo! My train! My super cool train!" Daisy cried as she dramatically sank to her knees. "It was my best invention and now it's gone! It's all gone!"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Breezy smiled as she placed her hand on the alien/kitsune girl's head, "With a brain as big as yours, I'm sure you'll build an even better Thunder Trail."

Daisy looked up and smiled a bit as she rubbed her eyes. "Yeah…"

"Why would Mephiles send a missile after us?" Charmy asked as he looked at the direction of where it came from.

"I suppose he decided that we are no longer needed for his scheme," Eggman Nega frowned.

"Despicable fellow," Meiling grimaced.

Thunder suddenly crashed through the air, making a few flinch slightly. Then a light drizzle began to fall on them.

"Oh no!" Eli groaned as she stretched her dress. "Now my dress is going to get soaked!"

"I think our clothing is the least of our problems," Radian huffed. "Judging from were that missile came from, we must be closer to the lair. We can waste anymore time now. We have to hurry!"

With a quick nodded and nothing else to do, everyone began to go through the rain soaked earth.

* * *

Several minutes later, a wall succumbed to a blunt blow. Stone fragments flew everywhere and dust swooped all over. Everything soon settled, reveling a large hole on a huge aging wall.

"Is this the spot?" Jam asked, retracting his leg from the hole.

"Uh huh," Moana nodded, tapping her scouter, "I can detect the traces of the Sanpglyph pieces. This must be where Mephiles is hiding."

"Is that so?" Athena spoke as she took a few steps into the hole. No sooner than three more steps later, she gasped and held her head.

"Athena?" Maria asked in concern.

"It's defiantly Mephiles in there," Athena said, turning her head around with a worried glance. "There is something else in this cave though; something that shouldn't be awakened. Something very bad!"

"Oh no," Marisa grimaced.

"Wait a minute…" Athena continued, tapping her head, "I sense something else…" she smiled. "I have good news! Our parents are in this cave!"

"What?" the children of the old generation gasped.

"We've found them at last?" Jewels gawked.

"Are you sure?" Violet asked.

"Positive?" Gadget pressed.

"I can sense their energy signatures!" Athena reassured, "It's faint, but they're in here and still alive!"

"Alright. This is what we've been waiting for," Elise said, adjusting her fedora. "Are all of you ready?"

"Ready to blow that place into smithereens!" the blast happy duck replied as he got out another one of his bombs.

"Lead the way," Skylark nodded.

"Then lets get moving," Kera nodded. All of them got out of the rain and into the cave.

* * *

The team of heroes, anti-heroes, borderline-anti-hero and villain went through the dark path of the cave. There was barely any light that made it visible. Luckily, a few of them had nocturnal vision. This made things a little smoother.

"How much further?" Eli whimpered.

"Beats me," Breezy shrugged. Then her eyebrows furrowed as she felt somebody jostle her quills, "Snively, if you don't let go of my quills right now, I'll drive my foot up somewhere on your body that can cause PERMANENT damage."

"Jezz," Snively frowned as he retracted his arm, "Can't blame a guy for trying."

"I can!" Molly glared, eyes cold as steal.

"Sheesh, you women are so high strung," Snively grumbled, hands in pockets, "Really, who could be more insecure than you guys?"

* * *

In an alternate Germany, a teenaged red headed pilot sneezed loudly, mixing her spit with LCL inside of her Eva-02.

"Verdammt!"

* * *

"Now children," Eggman Nega chided, oddly sounding like a father figure, "We haven't the time to be bouncing heads. We can do that freely after this is all over."

"Fine, fine," Molly huffed, crossing her arms.

After a little more silence, the group came across a large door. It was huge and green. In the middle was a symbol that looked like a clawed hand.

"This must be it," Starla whispered.

"So, how da we get it open?" Marine asked.

"I say we blast the dang thing!" Bean shouted.

"We don't want to do something that could cause problems," Shade said. "We need to think through this carefully."

"So how do we do that?" Nack asked.

"May I suggest an alternative?" Omega said, pointing to a wheel crane that was on a left wall.

"Hmm…" Larcen muttered as he approached the wheel and slowly began to turn it. As he did, the door slowly opened upward. Small pebbles fell from the top as it did. When it was finally opened full way, a loud clank echoed in their ears as collected dust fell to the ground.

"That was… almost too easy…" Kera said suspiciously.

"We're here though, so let's see what we can find," Radian said. Everyone nodded and walked into the room.

Inside was a creepy and wide chamber. The walls were made of jade and several shadows were creeping all over them. Before them, they saw black mechanism with gold lines covering it. Strange markings could be seen around it. On the middle of it, the saw something that looked like a CD slot. Black gears could be seen beneath the floor. It could be safely assumed that they were all connected.

"What is this?" Meiling asked as she approached the mechanism.

"Beats me," Jewels shrugged.

"It looks familiar somehow…" Shade pondered.

"How so?" Jam asked her.

"I think I've seen this thing before, but I can't remember where or when…" Shade answered, frowning a little.

"Really…?" Marisa wondered. Her eyes turned upward, and then widened. "Everyone! Look up!"

Everyone did so, and then gasped. Up above them were non other than the Sonic Heroes, sleeping in their cages.

"It's them! Our parents!" Maria squealed blissfully.

"Mom! Pops! Everyone! Wake up!" Breezy shouted loudly. Her voice caused them to stir.

"Man… I hate Mondays…" Sonic grumbled as he awoke, loosing his grip around Amy. He started blinking before he looked down and saw their rescues. "Kids? What are you doing here?"

"We came here to rescue you! What else?" Athena exclaimed.

"Ugh… what's going on?" Amy mumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She turned to Sonic and saw that he was looking down. She followed his direction and gasped with wide eyes. "Kids! You found us?" she gap as the rest of the captives woke up and saw what was going on.

"Yeah, it took us a while, but at least we made it," Jam said.

"Well we're sure are glad that you got here," Rouge smiled. "You sweeties wouldn't mind getting us down from here, would you?"

"Yeah… uh… is there a switch somewhere?" Daisy asked.

"Not that we know of," Tails answered.

"Not what do we do?" Gadget groaned.

Skylark turned his head to the left corner and saw a strange pillar emitting some kind of electricity. He walked up to it and took careful stride not to get shocked. "This looks to be the problem," he observed. "Moana, do you know how to deactivate it?"

The killer while walked up to the pillar and took a short glance. "Oh this? Like…THIS!" she grunted as she swung her thick tail at the pillar. The impact caused the pillar to tilt and create a fuse, making a small explosion that looked more like a puff of smoke. Instantly, the cells faded away and the heroes of yesterday fell out. Sonic and Amy ended up in a pair of arms before they could stick their landing.

"Huh?" Sonic wondered, looking up at their captor, "That you Elise?"

"Long time no see, my friends," the older human smiled merrily.

"Wow, Elise! It's been so long!" Amy beamed as Elise set them both of them down. "But what's with the Tuxedo Mask get up?"

"I'll explain all of that soon," she answered them.

"Mom! Pops! You're both alright!" Breezy shouted as she dashed into her father's arms. He closed his arms around her while Amy joined the both of them in a family embrace. "I missed you…" she partially cried, her voice muffled in his chest.

"It's alright, angel. We're here now," Amy whispered sweetly, rubbing her head.

Athena was hugging both her parents, with Silver stroking her ears and Blaze combing her hair. "I wish we could have seen you in action," Silver smiled, "But I'll bet you did a bang up job trying to do this for us."

"Really?" Athena glanced up with big golden orbs.

"Mm hmm," Blaze answered, still combing her daughter's hair. "You look just like Silver and I back when we where younger. We couldn't be any prouder."

Athena smiled and snuggled back in to her parents, "Mama… papa…"

Cosmo was kissing Gadget all over his face. "Oh, my little boy! You're such a hero! I'm so proud! I'm glad you're okay all okay! Oh, I love you so much!"

"Mom~!" Gadget wined as he continued to get smothered with motherly love.

"Daddy!" Daisy squealed as she hugged Tails close. "Oh, daddy you're alright!"

"Hey, Daisy, everything's alright now," Tails smiled.

Violet walked over and hugged Tails as tightly as she could. "I missed you dad…" she whispered softly.

"I missed you too," he whispered back.

"Cosmo! Tails! Hey!" Galaxina waved the rest of the Seedrians came up and joined Prower family reunion.

"Everyone! You made it here, too!" Cosmo grinned happily as her sisters came in for a huge hug.

"I gotta say," Chrysanthemum smirked. "You both did a bang up job raising these kids. You both oughta be proud."

"We sure are," Tails smiled from ear to ear.

Jam received an affectionate fist bump from Knuckles. "You did good, son." He grinned. "You've done me and your ancestors proud."

Jam looked down just as his father said that, his ears drooping. "No I didn't… I had to break the Master Emerald to prevent Mephiles from taking it."

"Don't worry about it," Knuckles reassured him. "I used to go through that all the time. It's the pearls of the Master Emerald Guardian."

Jam smiled a little, "Thanks dad."

Jewels in the meantime got and an affectionate headlock from her mom, "Took ya long enough, Agent of G.U.N." she smiled wryly. "They've been feeding us nothing but slop for the past few days."

"Sorry mom," Jewels smiled. "Next time it happens, we'll be faster."

Maria was in a tight embrace courtesy of Shadow and Tikal. "What you did was dangerous," Shadow gentle chided, "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself with anything were to happen to you."

"But daddy," Maria pleaded as she looked down at him. Strangely enough, she was actually taller than her parents, "What if something happened to you? Then I couldn't live with myself."

"Don't take it too hard, dear," Tikal said soothingly, "She wanted to make sure that we were unharmed."

Shadow looked at his wife, then at his daughter. He sighed and pulled them closer. "Just be sure to take such risks."

"I know," Maria smiled.

Shadow just nodded as he held his two girls closer, but then frowned as he saw by the corner of his eye, "Eggman Nega!"

"Hump!" the ageing man snorted, crossing his arms. "It was about time you noticed me hedgehog."

The other families stopped what they were going and stared at him. "What are you doing here?" Blaze demanded. "How did you escape the Chaotic Inferno? It isn't possible without Chaos Control!"

"You think about it Blaze," he glared. "You and Silver have known me for the longest time! Don't you think that I could have been able to create a machine that allowed me to escape that hell pit? And as for what I am doing here… I just didn't want that bastard hedgehog to have the glory for himself!"

"We tricked him into help us," Breezy said quickly.

"WHAT?" Amy spun her head to face her, "That's crazy! This man isn't like that Dr. Eggman we faced 20 years ago! He's dangerous!"

"Well, at least it worked," Breezy said with a nervous smile.

"Regardless, this will be the ONLY time that I will aside you!" Eggman Nega continued.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Silver glared.

"Hey," Kera shouted, catching their attentions, "If all of you are done, maybe we can start looking for Mephiles."

"Don't bother. I'm already here."

The new voice was one that everyone begrudgingly recognized. Turning to the source quickly enough to risk whiplash, they saw none other than Mephiles the Dark himself, causally sitting on a set of stairs that lead to the second door behind them.

"Mephiles the Dark, I take it," Nack growled, aiming a pistol at him.

Mephiles applauded them sarcastically. "Very well done on escaping my missile, just as I knew you would. As much as I hate to admit it, but you impress me," he mused as he stood up. "No matter how many odds were stacked against you, you all still managed to pull yourselves out of it. And of course, there's…" he turned his head to Elise, who glared daggers at him, "Ah, so that's where you've disappeared to, Elise. So you've managed to take control of what Iblis left behind. I'm greatly impressed."

"Your presence is a plague, and I'm here to rectify it," Elise declared, allowing her right hand to be engulfed in flames, "I'm going to take this curse, and use it against you!"

"I'd like to see you try," Mephiles laughed.

"Let's cut to the chase," Amy cut in, "We know you're trying to destroy reality again. Just what is it about our world that you see fit to erase it anyway?"

"Erase it?" Mephiles spoke, oddly surprised. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Quit lying!" Silver shouted. "You nearly succeeded last time! Your manipulation skills won't save you here!"

"I'm afraid I am not lying at all, Silver," Mephiles argued, "I never out right said that I wanted to obliterate reality, did I?"

The old generation gasped. Come to think of it, he never did say that.

"Then what is your game?" Rouge asked.

"My game?" Mephiles snapped his talons, making a large screen behind him. On that screen, every war that was ever established in history appeared on it. "Do you see this? This is all of the wars that ever happened in this world since humanity was at its infancy. Humans fight and kill one another for petty reasons, sometimes for mere satisfaction. It's because of their free will that they do this to themselves. It is because they don't have someone to control them that they force themselves to suffer." Mephiles clenched his hand, the screen vanishing as he did. "No. My game was never to erase reality. It was to break it apart piece by piece. And then, I will create my OWN reality. One without suffering, one without war. It will be the perfect utopia."

"So that it?" Knuckles blinked, "You did all of this to create a reality without war?"

"And you're going to turn people into your slaves?" Marisa gasped. "That's messed up! Violence may be something that a lot of people can do without, but you can't take it away by rearranging reality and enslaving everyone!"

"What do you know!" Mephiles shouted, pointing harshly at her. "It is because of free will that everyone suffers! And you are not in position to object to me! You killed my servant! It is people like you that cause suffering!"

"…I did kill him," Marisa admitted slowly. "But he was the lowest scum that I ever met. He could have stuck me down, so I was forced to defend myself. I didn't expect for my thunderbolt to end up the way it did… but to that end, I had to remain strong and I had to move forward. Rothion kills because people get in his way, and I had to kill to defend. That is the difference between him and me."

"Foolish child…" Mephiles growled.

"What I don't understand is why you tried to steal the Master Emerald in the first place!" Jam shouted.

"Oh that?" Mephiles responded. "The Master Emerald has control over all seven Chaos Emeralds. That you already know. I needed it to keep control over the Emeralds as well as my new reality. Think of it as… a core of all life."

"Well, while we know that your motives are noble enough, I'm afraid we still have to stop you," Cream frowned as her hands began to fizz with lighting. "Free will is what gives everyone their uniqueness. Take it away, and the reality you so hope for will be out of whack."

"And there's one huge problem with you wanting to turn the world into your image," Breezy rebuffed. "You're ugly."

"We shall see," Mephiles said as he reached behind his back and pulled out a golden disk. The new generation gasped.

"You completed the Sanpglyph?" Radian gasped.

"That's right! And with this, I am one step closer to my goals!" Mephiles tossed the Sanpglyph up high into the air. Then, as fast as it went up, it sank down into the slot of the mechanism.

Everyone watched warily as the machine slowly cranked up to life. The markings slowly began to light up and the gears began to move. To their right, an unseen door slowly began to pull itself apart. Everyone watched as wall began pulling together until all they could see was black nothingness and seeping fog. Heavy footsteps were heard. Then the footsteps grew louder. And more clustered. Soon, a swarm of red dots faded into view from the doorway. The red dots soon turned out to be single eyes for approaching 12ft robots. They had heavy black armors with red glowing cores in the center of their round chests. More durable armor plates were pad on to their arms and legs. Working gears could be seen on their arms, legs and cores. Steam spud out of the robots as they suddenly halted before everyone. Everyone but Mephiles gawked in awe at the number of robots. The numbers were… enormous!

"The… Army of Darkness…" Shade stuttered, eyes widen. "They've been sleeping here all this time?"

"Ah so you know what they are?" Mephiles said with a smile in his voice, "I expected that much from a member from the Nocturnal Clan."

"So this is the fabled Army of Darkness…" Eggman Nega whispered. "This is very impressive for low-tech technology."

"What do you plan to do with them?" Breezy asked the demon hedgehog.

"What's a ruler without his royal guards?" Mephiles said. "I wakened the Army of Darkness for the sole purpose of spreading out my new world order… but I believe that it is time for a test run." The door opened behind Mephiles and he walked toward it.

"Where are you running off to?" Moana barked.

Mephiles stopped behind the door with his hands behind his back and turned around. "The Army of Darkness are very reckless brutes and I do not wish to caught up in what they are about to do. I shall see you all again… if you survive that is," and he snapped his fingers, causing the eyes of the army to flash momentarily. Then the door closed behind him.

Larcen mustered all of his speed to catch up, but the door slammed shut just as he caught up. "Shoot!" he yelled as he banged on the door. "It won't open!"

"We have bigger things to worry about, Senor Larcen!" Samson shouted as he pointed.

Indeed. The Army of Darkness was slowly approaching the group. All of them were beginning to get cornered by the stair case. If this was what Mephiles was really after, then they were in for one hell of a fight.

"Oh, this isn't good," Elise gulped; her daughter was clinging to her arm.

At that very moment, Snively ran up the stairs and hid behind Larcen, making the older hedgehog glare behind him.

"What?" he glared at him.

"Don't look at me! I don't have fire power, but you do!" Snively shouted, pushing Larcen down the stairs. Larcen tumbled down the steps painfully, and yet, comically. He fell on his face, and slow glared at the teenaged human.

"Snively… you…"

"Retard's got a point though," Athena frowned. "Anyone with no skill level high enough to fight killer first generation Gizod, back out now and try to open that door!"

"Don't have to tell us twice!" Sunseed said as she, her sisters, Moana, Molly, Eggman Nega, Eli and reluctantly Zed joined Snively up the stairs to find a way to open the door.

"Great, how are suppose to fight these things?" Tails grumbled.

"It's no problem, man," Sonic smiled at his long time buddy. "We've been in jams like this before, haven't we?"

"Heh, how could I forget?" Tails smiled back.

"Behind you!" Rouge shouted as she pointed.

Sonic blinked and turned around, just in time to see one of the Darkroids rearing its fist at him. That served him to be all the time he needed as he jump up high as the Darkroid slammed its fist deep into the floor. Sonic came back down and delivered a spam attack from his lighting legs, causing parts to fly off the machine. Then sent another kick to blast it into a wall. Another Darkroid got to him and began to swing punches at him. The blue hedgehog made some back-flips to avoid getting hit before he used a Homing Spin shoot it up to the ceiling, where it crumbled there after.

Amy was facing off another Darkroid. It raised his arm and threw it down with great force, in the intent to flatten her. Amy held up her hands and grabbed hold of the arm just as it came down. The Darkroid tried to induce pressure, but the pink hedgehog merely grinned. Now she was much more skilled than when she was twelve. And she was now as strong as Knuckles; that gave her more advantages than she ever had before. That said, she rarely used her hammer as often as she used to, though she still had with her everywhere she went. Amy threw up the Darkroid and grabbed it by the foot when it came down. She began to spin around in fast speeds before throwing it in another group of Darkroids, all of which crashed and burned.

"Heh! Just like old times!" Amy smirked.

Shadow was dealing with two Darkroids as it aimed to cut him down with heated blades that were on their fists. The Ultimate Lifeform would have none of that, though. The ancient machines continued to try and claw him as the black hedgehog seemingly played with them, jumping all and about. After landing from another jump, Shadow smirked as an idea began forming in his head. Just as the first Darkroid charged it him, Shadow effortlessly moved from each swing, and lured it behind the second Darkroid. Before that Darkroid had a change to even know what was going on, Shadow leapt up as the first charged in and ended up ramming the blade through the core.

"Now you'll disintegrate together!" Shadow shouted as he sent his Chaos Bomb from up above. The attack hit both and destroyed them in an instant red blast. Trash and remains flew out of the explosion.

Two more Darkroids charged while two other heroes stood their ground. As both ejected their claws, one of them took a swipe. Blaze jumped for it, while Silver crossed his arms in front, focusing his power within him, glowing blue-green strongly. The claw passed underneath Blaze and just passed through Silver, just as the hedgehog intended. As both Darkroids wasted their time to try and cut down the now-transparent physic, Blaze landed on the other side. Swiftly turning around, she made her eyes glow flaming orange before she launched a Heat Beam Eye Blast on one of the Darkriods back, causing a deep, melted gash. Deactivating her attack, she nodded to Silver. He nodded back and mentally pushed himself backwards and mind-grabbed the two Darkriods, crushing them together. Blaze jumped on the back of the one she damaged, created a fireball and dunked it into the hole before getting off. Within that hole, the fireball laid dormant for a short while. Then it began glowing and growing with the intensity of the sun. The heat was too much for the Darkriods to handle, and both began to glow red hot before exploding in huge flames.

Blaze caught her nearly fainting husband and got him back on his feet. "Is everything alright?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm fine…" he panted. "That was just too hot for me to handle."

Blaze smirked with a small blush on her face. "Can't relax now. We still have to take care of the rest of the army. Then we go after Mephiles."

"Yeah," Silver smiled back.

Another Darkroid launched a rocket fist at Kera with chains connected to it. She sidestepped out of the way and cut the chains with her sword. The fist crashed into a wall right behind her. Then she dashed forward, lunged, and sank her sword into the core, making the Darkriod fidget wildly before shutting down. Noticing a shadow appearing, she looked up and saw another Darkriod coming down to with its fists up high. Taking her sword, she leapt out of the way, letting the Darkriod unwilling crush its brother. Charging her blade with fire, she lunged started striking on the Darkriod, making red cut marks appear on its body. The she jumped up and finished it with an overhead slash. The Darkriod stood momentarily before it fell in several pieces.

"Marisa!" Kera shouted, turning away from her kill. "How are things at your end?"

Marisa lunged both of her fists at the Darkriod's core and began electrocuting it. "How DO you think its going?" she snapped. She released her fists from the damaged core, allowing the Darkriod to fall down with a heavy thud. "You guys figured out how to open that door yet?"

"We're trying but there's it has a riddle here!" Galaxina shouted back.

After throwing a punch at another Darkroid, Knuckles turned and asked. "What kind of riddle?"

Molly took a look at it. "It says… 'One who has fire up top and plenty water below. Answer, and only then you will pass'."

"What?" Larcen frowned after removing his dagger from a fallen Darkriod's core. "That's the same riddle Elise gave us!"

"We have to keep trying!" Eli said. "There must be some kind of answer to the riddle!"

Back in the fight, Meiling was fighting several more of the Darkriods. She was moving left and right to avoid the blunt punches before jumping on the fist and ran up to the shoulders. She rammed her staff into the join to the right arm and slowly tore it off. Then spinning her staff, she moved to the other arm and did the same. Noticing movement by the corner of her eye, she saw another Darkriod charging with its claw reared back. She made a jump for it, causing the Darkriod to ram the blade into its brother. She dove back down, her staff spinning and repeated the same process on the second Darkriod. She jumped off as both Darkriods fell unceremoniously down.

"Meiling, you alright?" Jam asked as he looked behind his back.

"I am well," she nodded.

"Watch it!"

The pair looked up to see a third Darkriod leaping up at them with both claws bared. Rouge flew in front of them a produced a balloon that looked a bit like her head.

"_Bat Bomb!"_ she called as she threw the bomb out at it. It hit and exploded against the Darkriod, blasting backwards as parts flew everywhere. They saw another Darkriod charging at them. Rouge turned to her son and said, "Ready, boy?" he nodded. Both bats stood their ground with the monkey behind them assuming her stance. Just as the Darkriod reached critical range, the bats made their move and sent powerful side kicks to push it back. Then they charged forward with their legs burning up in fire, Jam's in red, and Rouge's in black.

"_Heat Wave!"_

"_Black Wave!"_

The two flame kicks hit and the Darkriod soon began to glow with red and purple heat. Meiling decided to end it by charging forward with a powerful kick of her own. She lunged with a battle cry and cracked the Darkriod in half. It fell apart.

"Nice job, Meiling!" Jam smiled. "I'll go take care of the other batch over there!"

"H-hǎo ba," Meiling nodded, watching him off. This wasn't lost to his mother.

"I see you've made an influence on my son," Rouge commented to her. "He's a lot like his father; socially awkward and needing the perfect girl to break his shell."

"He is… nice," Meiling said.

"Perhaps when this is all over," Rouge said, giving her a toothy grin, "I can show you ways on how to make a man squeal."

Meiling turned bright red.

"DIE YOU ROBO-BASTERDS DIE!" Bean yelled as he threw his bombs out on each Darkriod that approached him.

"There is no call for foul language!" Skylark shouted after jumping on an offensive Darkriod.

"Is he always like this?" Radian asked Nack. The two of them were with Samson had they had their backs against each other. They were using this tactic to take down the Darkriods more effectively.

"All the time," Nack droned, resuming his shooting.

A small bomb flew into the air before hitting another Darkriod right in the core. The gears began to crack when it did. Then Knuckles and Shade then jumped toward the Darkriod and did an uppercut at the same time. A II symbol flashed when they did. The force of the attack sent the Darkriod flying up. Gravity took hold again as it crashed down on its head.

"This Army of Darkness isn't as tough as I thought they would be…" Knuckles frowned.

"Careful Knuckles," Shade warned, "I wouldn't feel so comfortable just yet."

"Good point," he nodded.

Gadget was sticking behind another Darkriod as it tried to get him off. Right now, it looked like it was trying to get rid of an irritating itch. "Just hang on Gadget! Only a little bit more!" Daisy shouted as she and Violet ran to his rescue.

"OOOKKKKKKKKAAAAAYYYY!" Gadget wailed, his face turning into a deeper shade of green.

The sisters jumped on to the back and grabbed hold next to their brother. Then the siblings began to forcus on their electromagnetic powers. Orange electricity began to surge around the Darkriod and others instantly began getting pulled toward it. They all tried to run away, but they ended up getting caught by the magnetic field. Just as the Prower Siblings jumped off, the sole Darkriod quickly ended up underneath a pile of other Darkriods, and it looked pretty humorous. As the trio backed up, the found themselves bumping into Elise.

"I'll finish this," she nodded to them while pulling out her roses. She threw the flowers like shrunken. Each of the roses stuck on to the still moving bodies until it was a hill of blue roses. Then the roses glowed bright blue before exploding in a huge flash of light. When it cleared up, nothing was left but more junk.

"Done and done," Violet smirked, folding her arms.

"_Thunder Arrow!"_ Emerl shouted as he plowed threw three Darkriods with surging electricity. Each one fell smoking, one by one by one. Cream joined him by sending Cheese and Chocola to attack to other Darkriods that were right behind him with their electric charge. The Chao ripped through their backs in black and white sparkles. The Darkriods slowly fell on their faces with a huge thud. Cream walked into view and joined her Chao.

"This isn't too bad," Cream said thoughtfully as she kicked a shell.

Omega pulled his claw out of a core of another Darkriod. It shut down and fell heavily on its back. "They almost appear to be buying time," Omega commented.

"Huh?" Emerl asked. "How so?"

"I don't know, but we must not let our guard down."

"Dually noted," Cream nodded.

Breezy, Maria and Athena were facing the last few batches of the Darkriods. They were all surrounded at the moment with no way out. But they didn't worry. In fact, they all had smiles on their faces.

"Let's show em our hissatsu attack!" Breezy said to her friends.

"I'm up for it," Maria nodded.

"Let's get em!" Athena smirked.

Breezy grabbed her friends' hands and began to spin into her tornado form. Only now the tornado was multi-colored with her friends joining her. The whirlwind began to blow threw the circle and tossed all the Darkriods like rag dolls. Once they came to a halt, all of the Darkriods were torn apart. All but one, that was still in mid-air and looked like it was going to land on its legs. Luckily, they saw that. Maria and Athena hefted Breezy by her feet, and tossed her up, high and fast. The hedgehog quickly met face to face with the Darkriod and offered a brief one bond liner.

"Tag! You're it!" she shouted as she slammed both of her feet into the robot and sent it flying back to the wall. With a crash and a huge indent, it slid down without anything else.

"Phew! What a fight!" Rouge sighed as she stretched herself out. "I hadn't fought like that in ages!"

Jewels looked at the area observantly. The whole arena was now riddled with broken parts and trash. The walls were dented by the fight. Whoever built that many number of Darkriods probably had too many time on their hands or just wanted to kill something. Knowing how brutally they were, it might be the latter.

"This is the invincible Army of Darkness?" Jewels said out loud. "I think we handled them quite nicely."

"Still, it was hard as hell," Nack said.

Shade however, still wore a frown on her face as she looked at the carnage. Something really did seem right. Something was missing. What could it be?

She got her answer as she widened her eyes in remembrance.

"Everyone! Up the stairs now!"

"Why is- oh SNAP!" Breezy gasped.

The reason she said that was because something very bad was happening. The parts that were busted from the Darkriods were slowly coming together. Some tiny parts were regenerating and larger ones were being pulled back together by the Darkriods themselves. The cores that were destroyed were even filling back up like balloons. After they did a systems check, the army began to stalk the heroes once again. Not wasting a beat, the heroes retreated to the stairs, not wanting to waste more power.

"Now I remember why the Army of Darkness is so unbeatable!" Shade elaborated. "Every time they are defeated, they will rebuild themselves!"

"So they will never die?" Marisa asked incredulously.

"Unfortunately."

"We have to get this door opened!" Athena shouted.

"Oh man! I didn't think it was going to be this tough!" Moana frowned. "Stupid riddle!"

Snively snapped his fingers. "You have to think outside the box! Fire doesn't always mean what it means. It can mean aggressiveness! And how much water can we carry in our body?"

"70%?" Kera blinked. "Where are you going with this?"

"The answer to the riddle! It's an aggressive human being! HAH! I'm a genius!"

"Then why didn't you figure it out before?" Larcen snapped.

"Shut up!"

With his answer being correct, the door opened, showing a grey void. "Come on!" Maria said. "We can still catch up to Mephiles!"

"You guys go on!" Sonic told them.

"What are you saying, Pops?" Breezy blinked. "We just saved you!"

"We have to make sure that the Army of Darkness doesn't leave this place," Blaze told her.

"But… but…" Athena began to blubber.

"Don't worry, we'll be back," Shadow said with a short smile. "Now go and stop Mephiles!"

The new generation and their tag-a-longs nodded. They made their way into the door, but Elise stopped momentarily to look back at Sonic.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Elise asked worriedly. "I don't want to lose you again."

"Don't worry Elise, we'll get by," Sonic smiled reassuringly. "Keep an eye on our kids, alright?"

The queen smiled and nodded. As she turned back and ran into the void, the door closed shut. Now the old generation was facing the Army of Darkness on their own. Still, they couldn't help but smile in anticipation.

"Brings back a lot of memories, doesn't it?" Knuckles smiled.

"Yeah, it sure does," Tails smiled back at him.

"Its defiantly been a while since we fought against an army of killer robots like this," Silver said wistfully, "I hope we haven't gotten any rusty since then!"

"Well, this is it!" Shadow smirked. "It's been fun!"

"Even me, Strips?" Sonic grinned at him.

"Even you, Sonic," Shadow nodded, "Especially you."

And with that, the Sonic Heroes charged forward with the intent of sending the Army of Darkness back from whence they came.


	26. Sins of the Fathers

**Chapter 26: Sins of the Fathers**

"Where are you Mephiles!" Breezy yelled loudly over the rain.

"I highly doubt that he's going to respond to that," Jewels said.

"The Chao Ruins is a big place," Cream reminded. "He could be anywhere."

"So then what do we have to do?" Moana asked, frowning, "Comb the whole place?"

"If we have to then we must," Skylark said indefinably.

"In this rain storm?" Marisa growled, blowing her wet bangs from her eyes, "I don't think so!"

The rain continued to pour as the thunder and lighting flashed in the dark sky. After escaping Mephiles' hideout, the new generation found themselves on a cliff over an aging labyrinth. There was no one sign of the demon anywhere, not as far as the eye could see.

Larcen sighed and looked below the cliff. If the where going to scan the place anywhere, they may as well look from her. Turning to his left, he saw a dark figure slowly walking forward, almost as if he was waiting for something.

"Look! There he is!" Larcen pointed. Breezy ran up next to him and saw Mephiles still walking off. A sharp frown appeared on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

"It's now or never," she muttered. She turned to Maria and Athena, who nodded at her. All three girls turned to the cliff and jump off into the air.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Charmy shouted after them.

"Guys!" Gadget gasped.

Breezy flipped through the air and land some feet away in front of Mephiles. Her emerald eyes glared at him. "This is as far as you go Mephiles!"

Athena and Maria landed on either side of her. "You've caused way too much trouble, Mephiles!" Athena declared.

"Today, we put an end to this!" Maria finished.

"Hm. You three look more upset then when I last saw you," Mephiles remarked, looking at the angry girls with a critical eye. "What's your beef? I haven't done anything to you yet."

"It's not what you did us!" Athena growled at him, "It's what you did to our parents!"

"Oh?" Mephiles said, laughing cruelly as he began to realize why they were ticked off so. "Do tell."

"My father was nearly betrayed because of your lies!" Maria lashed.

"My mom was trapped in that stupid void because of you!" Athena yelled.

Mephiles simply cackled, "Oh, so you found out about that did you? And what about you, hedgehog? What grievance do you have against me?"

"You killed my Pops, you crystallized weasel!" Breezy shouted. "You did it to make a girl cry! She became friends with him and you took him away from her just like that! You coward!"

"What did you say!" Mephiles demanded angrily.

"I said that you're a coward!" Breezy repeated. "Shooting someone behind the back is something that I would call a cowardly move! You must a' been too afraid to face him head-to-head, so you had to sneak up behind him. You could a' faced him like a man but didn't! Sure you fought Uncle Shadow but the fact remains that you had to do something so cowardly to do what you did!"

Now Mephiles was a lot of things. He was a cheater, a manipulator, a liar, a thief and a murderer. But the one thing that he hated to be classified as was a coward. It vexed him that anyone would dare to call him that.

"I see," Mephiles said slowly, "So I am a coward, am I? In that case…" he raised his hand as it glowed with dark energy. "I'll show what this coward can do!" and he slammed it down, making a huge explosion. Breezy, Maria and Athena were forced to shield their eyes from the dust as it flew into their faces.

Up on the cliff, everyone saw the brut power that Mephiles displayed. "What is he doing?" Sunseed wondered. "Is he trying to show off?"

"More like he's showing off his power!" Kera gasped. "They must have said something to piss him off! I have a bad feeling about this!"

"We have to help them!" Marisa shouted as she ran to jump of the cliff. But Elise held out her hand to keep her from moving. The sage looked at her, wanting to know why.

"This is their fight," the queen told her.

"I can use this Reverse Speaker to catch everything that's going on!" Moana said as she brought out what looked like and inside-out projector.

"I hope they didn't do something stupid," Zed muttered while Moana placed up the Reverse Speaker for all to hear.

The dust slowly cleared up, reveling Mephiles glaring up from the crater he levitated up from it and landed just behind the big hole. "So I am a coward, am I? I'm too afraid to go in head-to-head combat, am I? In that case, why don't we have a battle of our own?"

"Oh really?" Maria pressed.

"I will not be using the five Chaos Emeralds that I have in my position, but know this: the last time we fought, I was merely going easy on you. This time I will unleash my full power!"

The girls suddenly paled. They had difficulties trying to put down Mephiles last time. Now they've gotten themselves in a deep hole.

"Good, you get it now," Mephiles smiled (so to speak), "And now, Breezy Merlina Hedgehog, Maria Geraldine Echidna, Athena Alexandra Cat … prepare yourselves!" Mephiles threw his hands forward, and dark energy beams shot out at the girls.

"Come on, let's bust and groove!" Breezy shouted. With the lighting reflexes, the trio dashed away from the beams. Maria tried to counter with her Chaos Bloom, but Mephiles slapped it aside.

"You will have to do better than that," Mephiles taunted.

"If that's the way you want it," Athena smirked ominously.

"Then we'll give it to you!" Breezy added. Focusing on her Chaos Emerald, she used her connection to it to form purple energy on her left leg. _"Boomer Breeze!"_ Breezy shouted as she sent the distant kick out for the attack. Mephiles arched himself, letting the attack miss him and explode behind him.

"How sloppy," he mocked.

"Oh, shut up! _Flame Whirl!"_ Athena yelled as she charged forward in a ball of flames. Mephiles managed to garb hold of her and got pushed back with his feet being buried along the wet dirt. He threw her aside, but she quickly straightened herself and charged back at him. She started to throw a series of kicks and punches that Mephiles effortlessly blocked.

"Is this the best you can do?" Mephiles taunted as he continued to block the close combat, "Pathetic. You aren't all that up to par with your mother!"

"Quiet!" Athena yelled. Mephiles sent a blunt fist at her chest, sending her backwards. Gathering up her momentum, Athena launched herself back at him with her two fists at his chest. A thunderous crash erupted from the blow while Mephiles was sent tumbling backwards before he got back up to his feet.

"So you finally managed to hit me," he said, rubbing his chest. "Not bad, not bad at all. But can you handle this?" Mephiles summoned a crystal spear, the same one he used to threaten Kera, and hurled it at Athena. The cat made a jump for it. The spear hit her former position and exploded in a bright green flash.

Up in the air, Athena released a verity of Psycho Balls and Scorch Tosses. Mephiles summoned up his crystal wall to block all of the attacks that were sent at him. Each attack exploded against the wall. When the attacks ceased, the wall was left battered. Mephiles punched his shield, destroying it into itty-bitty shards, and leapt after her. The two met and engaged in short mid-air combat. Grabbing his neck, Athena redirected his back to the ground and bounced off with her feet. While the cat flipped in mid-air, Mephiles landed dramatically.

Maria and Breezy zipped to his corner and got into stance. "You won't get away!" Maria shouted as she threw out her hands forward. _"Chaos Sniper!"_

Mephiles began to zip around, seemingly avoiding the blue beams that came after him. After moments avoiding the beams, Mephiles watched as they all streaked into the air above him before coming down on him all at once.

"What?" Mephiles demanded as he saw it happen. Having no time to summon his shield, he crossed his arms in front of his face and took all of the blows. The blue explosion flashed as all of the beams collided with the demonic hedgehog. When the light and dust cleared, Mephiles slowly removed his arms from his face and panted. Steam was pouring out from his scales, "You truly have your father's drive; I will say that much about you, Maria Geraldine Echidna," he panted.

"And we aren't done yet! _Tornado Hold!"_ Breezy shouted as she summoned two tornados in front of her and sent them to chase Mephiles.

Mephiles started to zip around the arena floor as the tornados chased after him. Mephiles was fast, but the tornados were catching up to him very quickly. One of the tornados managed to close enough to suck him in and exploded instantly. Without a single noise uttering from him, Mephiles fell to the ground and rolled on his side. Getting back up, he saw the second tornado gaining up on him. This time he was prepared.

"Hah!" Mephiles grunted as he lunged at the tornado. He flipped forward and delivered multiple overhead spinning slashes from his claws. Purple cutting beams appeared all over the tornado before it vanished in a whisper.

"Ah! No good!" Breezy gasped. Athena ran next to Breezy and rejoined the fight.

"We have to keep trying!" Maria said. _"Tombstone!"_

Mephiles watched as the stone wall approached him. Just as it came upon him, he jumped up and delivered a double horizontal backhand slash followed by an axe kick, slicing a cross shape into the wall. It fell apart in four pieces.

"My turn!" Athena frowned as she raised her hands. _"Fire Psycho Crash!"_

The balls of fire filled psychic power rushed at Mephiles. He went into a frenzy and rapidly scratched out in front of him, slashing at the balls. As he crouched into the landing, the balls flashed with scratch marks before they exploded.

"No… way!" Athena gulped.

"And that is not all I can do!" Mephiles sneered. "Behold!" He jumped up high into the air, vanishing in the clouds, and then came back down in a ball of power. He was aiming to do a dive bomb on them. The girls separated just as he slammed into the earth. Once he did that, a powerful shockwave spread out in a blue flash, ripping the ground around him and blowing the girls off their feet. Each one of them crashed into the walls of the ruins, breaking them apart. Slowly, the girls moaned as they pulled themselves out.

"What's the matter? I'm just getting warmed up!" Mephiles laughed as he continued his dive bomb shockwave attack. The girls managed to elude every shockwave that came their direction. As this was going on, Maria noticed something.

"Breezy! Athena!" she called out, grabbing their attention. "His back is exposed once he comes down! We can attack on the next phase!"

"Got it!" Both girls shouted.

Mephiles came back down into another shockwave attack. This time they were ready for him. Maria bolted behind him just as he landed with another crash. Wordlessly, she launched her Chaos Bloom at Mephiles' back. The attack hit and pushed him forward as he grunted in pain.

"Now! Hit him!" Maria beckoned. Her friends got on either side of her as they prepared their attacks.

"_Boomer Breeze!"_

"_Psycho Ball!"_

The two attacks streaked through the air before the hit their mark. A short explosion occurred and he was sent flipping through the air before landing back on his feet and in front of the girls.

"So, you discovered my Achilles' heel," the time demon commented as he stood up. "Most impressive. But let's see you try and stop this! _Stalagmite Spiker!"_ he yelled as he dug his glowing hands into the ground. All of a sudden, the ground beneath him started to glow and crystal stalagmites jutted out of the ground and infested the whole area.

"Move!" Athena shouted. Move was the only thing that the girls could do as the wave of stalagmites rushed toward them. With their speed and quick reflexes, the girls jumped and dodged the spikes that attempted to skewer them. When it all stopped, the girls panted as they found themselves in a field of crystal stalagmites. To them, it was like a twisted house of mirrors. Before them, Mephiles laughed.

"How splendid, you three are definitely the mirror images of your fathers. You have the privilege of facing one of my most deadly abilities!" He began to curl up into a ball, very much the same way Sonic and Shadow would. The only difference was that purple blades were manifesting around him and spinning along with him. _"Genocide Cutter!"_ He roared as he shot himself forward at deadly speeds.

"Watch out!" Breezy shouted. The girls flipped out of the way of the deadly pinball as it sped past them. The Genocide Cutter crashed and cut through the stalagmites as it made a U-turn. This time the girls didn't get off without injures. Breezy gasped as she ended up with a cut on her arm. Maria winced as she got one on her leg. Athena made a sharp yelp as she also got one on the leg. This went on for almost seven seconds. Mephiles skid into a halt and looked at his opponents. They all had cuts on their bodies and were doing their best to ignore them.

"Your stubbornness continues impresses me," Mephiles complemented, standing up, legs bent, "Your resolutions burn bright within you. However, your efforts are in vain, for you cannot destroy me... for I am a shadow."

"That I doubt," Maria said plainly. Then she stood straight, wincing in pain, "The measure of a person is not measured up by his or her own shadow; the shadow is nothing more than a distorted silhouette of a person. The shadow never bigger then the person itself! To that end, Mephiles, a shadow is indeed capable of being beaten, and we shall do the same to you!"

"We shall see about that," raising his hand in front of his face, Mephiles growled as he forced a neon black ball into his palm.

"Not good!" Breezy cautioned, "If we're hit with that, we're done for!"

"What will you do now?" Mephiles challenged as he threw out the ball with great force. The trio quickly moved out of the way and let the ball pass them. The ball hit another untouched stalagmite behind them and exploded like a bomb.

"You are fast like your fathers as well," Mephiles said, holding two more balls. "But I will not miss this time!" He threw the two balls up into the air. Gravity took back their hold as they dive bombed at the girls.

Thinking quickly, Maria rushed in with her fist reared back and yellow energy glowing out of it. _"Chaos Megaton!"_ she yelled as she punched the balls as soon as they reached them. Breezy and Athena shielded their eyes from the growing surge. Grueling seconds passed as the opposing forces fought for dominance. In the end, the balls vanished in a silent flash and Maria fell to her knees, worn out from her counter move.

"Maria!" Athena gasped as she and Breezy ran to help her back on her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yes… that took so much power…." Maria panted.

Mephiles could only laugh at what happened. "Very interesting. For someone such as you to be capable of rebelling against my Blitz Strike is most intriguing. I never thought I would have to use the second most powerful attack that I have in my arsenal!" With a shout, Mephiles outstretched his arms sharply, and Negative Chaos Energy began to pour into his arms. As each second passed, his arms glowed bright.

"What is…" Breezy whimpered with wide eyes.

"So much power…" Athena gulped.

"Do not worry," Mephiles said, "Your dear parents will join you soon. _Kaiser Wave!"_ He threw his arms forward and a red blast of negative energy rushed forward.

"No way!" Breezy yelled as he eyes flashed blue, _"Hailstorm Hurricane!"_ Slamming her fist into the ground, a huge wind gust rushed out of the earth and rushed forward. The two opposing forces met in a large explosion that covered the whole arena. The remaining stalagmites and ruin walls were blown away from the trembling. The purple light was so bright, it could be seen from a distance. As quickly as the light came, it soon died down.

"Ah! What happened!" Eli cried as she looked down below.

"Whatever it was, it sure gave out a lot of power," Larcen said, eyes widen from the fight.

"Ugh! I can't believe this is all happening!" Violet gaped, her cool demeanor breaking.

"Where did they disappear off to?" Molly whispered.

Elise's eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement. Then she found something, and her blues widened. "There!"

They followed her movement and gasped. There they all saw the trio of girls struggling to get up from the ground. Their clothing looking completely torn and battered and they were very dirty. Its amazing how something like that wasn't enough to keep them down.

Breezy panted as she looked at Maria, "Did we… win…?"

"I'm… not sure…" she answered.

"Guys….?" Athena stuttered as she pointed forward. Looking at her direction, the two other girls gasped.

There they could see Mephiles, walking out of the smoke, looking no worse than them. If he was in any pain at all, he did a good job of hiding it. "Heh! Did you really think that attack would be the end of me?" he laughed. "If I said it once, I will say it again! You cannot destroy me! Still, I must commend your strength and persistence, for you presented a harder fight then I had anticipated. You even landed a MORTAL blow, but alas in vanity. Such a shame to kill such fine opponents."

"No way! We can't go out like this!" Athena gasped.

"Ah… we can't… just die…" Breezy whimpered. Suddenly, her eyes widened sharply as something started to well up in her. Her head moved down as she began to tremble.

Mephiles took noticed and stopped walking. "Ah, so you finally realized that your efforts a futile. Good, it appears that we now know who the real coward is."

Breezy's fist closed up on the dirt. "You… that's right… you killed… my…"

"That's right, I killed your daddy," Mephiles sneered. "And it was quite easy, I must say. Would you like me to tell once again of how I did it before I send you to the promise land?"

"You…. You… YOU…" Breezy growled. If one could look closely, they could see a dark aura appearing around her.

"Breezy…?" Athena squeaked, sensing a new dark power from within her.

"Hm…?" Mephiles wondered. And then it happened. He could see the five Chaos Emeralds in his possession suddenly being drained of their color. Mephiles' eyes widened as he saw the Emeralds becoming gray husks. "The Emeralds! Their Dark Energy was drained?"

**KRACK!**

Before he realized it, he was blown head over heals backwards, and smacked right into what was left of a ruin wall, winding him. Stunned, he slumped to the ground and couldn't concentrate on anything for a few seconds. When he re-gathered his mind, he looked up... to see Breezy standing over him in a completely different form. Her fur was jet black and her battered clothing gain dark tints. Her quills and jacket were floating from her aura, which was glowing in dark blue. Spikes appeared on the straps of her sneakers. Her teeth formed into frightening fangs and the pupils of her eyes turned into cat-eye-slits.

"You… you drained the Dark Chaos Energy from the seven Chaos Emeralds?" Mephiles gaped. He struggled up to his feet, but he didn't get the opportunity as she grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him up. Mephiles struggled to escape from the hedgehog's grip, but it was like a vice. As he was taller than the girl, his feet just nearly touched the ground.

"You…" Dark Super Breezy snarled in a mature, poisonous voice. "You killed my father! Just to make a girl cry!" She slammed her fist into his chest, making him cry out as he was sent flying backwards. He ended up crashing several feet away.

"Athena! What happened?" Maria asked her, expressing concern for her friend.

"I think she subconsciously absorbed the negative power of the Chaos Emeralds once Mephiles got too close!" Athena answered. "She must have been so frightened and angry at the same time that it all happened so fast!"

"My god!" Maria gasped.

Meanwhile, the sudden change did not go unnoticed by those on the cliff. "So Breezy absorbed the negative power of the Emeralds?" Shade gasped. "I didn't think that was possible!"

"What's happening to Breezy?" Starla asked.

"Right now, she's being blinded by rage, she would either need to let her aggression out or she needs to be calmed down. For now, the best thing we can do is continue watching," Shade sighed.

"Breezy…" Gadget muttered. Kera continued to watch silently with wide eyes.

Mephiles tried to get back on his feet, but once again met by a powerful blow when Dark Super Breezy Chaos Controlled behind him and sent a sharp kick behind his back. "Did you really enjoy taking his life!" she demanded as she continued to pound him. Mephiles was unable to make a witty comment as he was too busy getting the air beaten out of his lungs, or at lest what he had for lungs.

"Well? Did you, you worthless piece of crap?" Dark Super Breezy continued, sending her knee at his stomach. Mephiles made a hurling noise and his eyes budged out of his sockets in response. Yes, he is very powerful, but not nearly as powerful as a Super Transformation. In short, Mephiles was getting the beatdown of a lifetime.

"I'll bet you even popped some kid's balloon or stole candy from a baby while you were at it!" she grabbed him by the by the chest hair (if you could call it that) and repeatedly slapped his face with a super charged fist. Then she sent a kick at his chin, sending him soaring in the distance. Dark Super Breezy snarled lowly as she raised her hands above her head, thunder flashing brighter than normal as she did.

"Go to Hell!" she roared as she brought her hands down sharply. In an instant, a thunderbolt slammed into the still flying Mephiles with a bright flash, slamming him into the ground. The earth shook from the impact and wind blew through slightly. Dark Super Breezy slowly began to calm down as the tension was removed from her shoulders. Slowly but surly, she reverted back to her purple furred self.

"Ugh… what did I do?..." Breezy moaned as she shook her head and rubbed her emerald eyes.

"Breezy?" Breezy turned around and found her two best friends walking up to her slowly.

"What happened?" Breezy asked them.

"You beat the crap out of Mephiles! That's what happened!" Athena exclaimed.

"But it seems that you don't remember after the Dark Chaos Energy left your body," Maria said. "At any rate, we're glad that you're back to normal."

"Well, I still don't know what really happened… but thanks," Breezy smiled slowly.

"Let's go. The deed is done," Maria nodded. But she said this too soon. The ground began to shake again, this time taking the girls off their feet. Looking over the distance, they gasped at what they saw. It was Mephiles rising out of the crater that Breezy sent him in. He was brimming with an intensity of negative power. He was enraged.

"You were a fool to think that you could defeat me so easily!" Mephiles bellowed as he continued to rise. "I cannot be defeated, nor can I die! I am darkness itself, nothingness! Everything comes from nothingness, and in the end, everything returns to DARKNESS! _CHAOS BLAST!"_ He burned bright with power as he rushed at the trio, aiming to end them once and for all.

"Hissatsu attack number two!" Breezy shouted.

"On the double!"

Athena began to engulf herself in fire. Maria started to glow with Neutral Chaos Energy. Breezy took the hands of her friends and began to spin around, her speed increasing as she did. Soon, the girls began turning into a multi-colored whirlwind. The whirlwind soon turned into a huge fire tornado, brimming with purple power. Mephiles' eyes widened again as he saw what he was getting himself into and tried to fly back, canceling his Chaos Blast. However, he found himself getting drawn in from the vacuum force being created. He sent a jade spear to the ground anchoring him down. But it looked like the spear was starting to loosen up.

"Wow! Look at that!" Moana gasped as she saw the tornado.

"Hm?" Eggman Nega wondered.

"What is it?" Kera asked.

"It's the combined force of the girls' true powers," Jam whispered.

"Now, here's our _Atomic Twister!"_ the girls bellowed from the tornado in unison, _"Part 2!"_

The spear finally lost its grip and Mephiles screamed as he was sucked into the chaotic firestorm. The firestorm continued to spin for a moment before it exploded in a flash of light, before dieing down. In the amidst of the storm, three girls were down on the backs, lying in triangular positions. They were winded, but happy. Happy that they "avenged" their parents.

"We did it," Athena smiled, looking at Breezy, "We finally got him."

"Yeah, he won't bother our family anymore," Breezy smiled back. Both held hands together. Breezy looked at Maria, who smiled back and also held her hand. The three girls stood up from the dirt.

"Man, Mephiles was so hard. But at least he's gone." Breezy sighed. She looked down at herself and frowned. "Though we still have these cuts. Mom is gonna flip when she sees me like this."

"A big group hug can fix our wounds," Maria said. She grabbed her two younger friends in a huge glomp. In an instant green light, all of their cuts that the got from the Genocide Cutter as well as other bruises vanished from the bodies.

"Hey, guys!" Daisy called as she, Gadget, Jewels, Larcen, Molly, Marisa and Eli ran up to them. "You did it! You stopped Mephiles!"

"You three were awesome!" Eli cheered, showing a double thumbs up. "Mephiles didn't know what hit him!"

"I'm just glad that we stopped him before it was too late," Maria said.

"That's it? I'm glad we got back at him for what he did to our parents!" Athena said.

"That too."

Breezy giggled as she watched the two playing with each other. Then she saw Gadget walking up to her. "What's up?"

"You were amazing, Breezy," Gadget smiled slightly, "You really got him this time."

"Gimmie five!" Breezy grinned. Gadget grinned back and was more than happy to high five her.

"Glad you finally got him," Violet smiled. "Now is a good time to find the rest of the Emeralds."

"Sure. Just let me get mine," Breezy nodded. She went a dug her left pocket. Finding nothing in their, she stiffened, and went for the other pocket. Then she checked her jacket pockets. And then the pockets that were hidden from the untrained eye. "Something's wrong! I can't find my Emerald!"

"My Emerald is missing too!" Maria panicked.

"What?" Skylark blinked. "That doesn't sound right…"

"Yeah… it almost seems as if…" Kera began. Then she got an idea of what just happened and her eyes widened. Everyone seemed to get the same idea as her when they did the same. Breezy made it all clear.

"That cheater! He tricked us and stole our Emeralds!"

In an undisclosed location, Mephiles limped his way to a glowing pool. Stopping briefly, he checked his surroundings. It was pretty much nothing more than a mere cave.

"I never anticipated for those girls to be that powerful," Mephiles whispered, still wincing in pain slightly, "But at least I finally have all that I need." Slowly standing up, he spread his arms out and all seven Chaos Emeralds appeared around him. He levitated over the lake and it started glow brighter, as if it were reacting with him and the Emeralds.

_"The servers are the Seven Chaos! Chaos is power__; power enriched by the heart! The user is the one who unifies the Chaos! Now the time has come! The time has come for me… TOO RISE!"_ Mephiles laughed madly as the blue glow of the lake engulfed the whole cave with light.

The whole ground started to rumble and shake. Everyone struggled to keep their balance. Anyone with the ability of flight started to hover.

"What's with this vibration?" Snively questioned.

"Something tells me that we could already be too late!" Radian shouted as he struggled on his knees.

"Ah!" Charmy pointed. "Over there!"

Everyone looked up at where he was looking. Up on a small temple, blue light began to glow with intensity. Then it exploded, forcing all to cover their eyes. As the light faded, everyone looked on in shook and awe as something else took its place.

It was a wyvern, a wyvern that reminded Elise so much of the Egg Wyvern. However, this one was blue and had waterish skin. On the back was a red symbol that resembled the sun and various other markings ran from it to the tip of the wings. It had a total of fire lizard-like tails. It also had solid red eyes, an imposable amount of fangs in its mouth and a green crystal on its head. The head itself was clear enough for a brain to be seen. The monstrous wyvern reared its head up and let lose a haunting shriek into the air. Thunder and lighting flashed as the roar echoed.

"KYAAAA!" Eli screamed.

"What is it?" Larcen gawked.

"Oh my God…" Maria whispered, eyes wide and her mouth covered. "It's… Chaos!"


	27. Open Your Heart

**Chapter 27: Open Your Heart**

Thunder and lighting flashed through the air as the water wyvern, identified by Maria as Chaos, shrieked in the dark sky. Everyone gaped in awe as they looked on what may very well be the eighth corrupted form of Chaos.

"So Chaos was the one Mephiles was after the whole time?" Marisa gasped.

"This isn't… but how? Why?" Larcen gasped, still trembling.

"When you think about it, it makes perfect sense," Elise answered, not taking her eyes off the beast, "Chaos is a god entity much like Iblis. The difference, however, is obvious. Their elements of choice aside, Chaos is one who protects everyone around him, where as Iblis seeks nothing but to destroy. Chaos and Iblis are parallel opposites, and yet are very much alike. That is how Mephiles was able to combine with Chaos to become this new entity. This… SolChaos!"

"SolChaos?" Kera gasped, "As in Chaos mixed with the essence of Solaris?"

"Precisely," Elise said, rubbing her nose.

"I have to get a readout on its power level!" Moana said, activating her scouter. When she did, she saw that the numbers were rapidly rising. "Five thousand… six thousand… seven thousand…. eight thousand…" she gasped as her scouter suddenly sparked and exploded. "AH!"

"M…Moana…" Skylark said shakily. "What did the scouter say about its power level?"

"It's..." she mumbled, "It's over the limit."

Skylark looked back at her, shocked. "WHAT? That can't be true!"

"That's what it said!" Moana argued.

"Hey! It's getting away!" Bean shouted as SolChaos flapped its huge wings and flew away into the clouds.

"We have to figure out what Mephiles did to Chaos!" Chrysanthemum said, turning her attention back to the temple, or at least what was left of it. "Let's go!"

* * *

The group got up the stairs and reached the obliterated shrine. There, they saw a dried up lakebed in the center. And in the center of that lake bed? Chaos Emeralds drained of their dark power.

"So this is where Chaos has been hiding the whole time," Larcen muttered as he walked in a few paces, looking around him. "Chaos is the legendary beast that the book was talking about… Ugh, how could I have been so stupid?" he shouted, slamming his fist into the ground.

"Larcen, you did know," Marisa said softly, walking up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Even if you did, there could have been no way to stop Mephiles anyhow. He knew all the moves we would make."

"She right," Emerl agreed. "Now we have to find one more move; a move that even Mephiles can't predict."

"But how?" Nack asked, "That SolChaos is to strong for us to handle. Not to mention that the Chaos Emeralds are dead."

"Not dead, just drained of their negative power," Cream corrected.

"Huh?" Samson blinked.

"I've seen this happen many times before. Whenever the Chaos Emeralds lose their color, it's because they are drained of their Dark Chaos Energy," the rabbit explained. "And now all that's left is…"

"Hero Chaos Energy?" Marisa asked, looking back at her.

"That's right! And there are only three of use here who can pull this off!" she continued, looking at Breezy, Athena and Maria.

"Us?" the girls gaped in unison.

"That's right!" Charmy nodded. "You may have not been able to destroy Mephiles, but you three had enough power to hold him back. And you have the Power of Chaos flowing within you! You are the only ones other than your fathers with full connection of Chaos Emeralds! Only you have the power!"

"Since SolChaos has taken the negative half of the Chaos Emeralds," Moana started, "It should be best for you to use the positive half to purify him and rip Mephiles out. That way, Chaos will return to normal."

"So you want us to use what's left of the Chaos Emeralds to stop SolChaos from warping the world?" Breezy asked.

"That's the general idea," Eggman Nega nodded.

"…" Breezy looked down at the Emeralds, wondering what she could do. She turned to her two friends for their opinions, "What do you guys think?"

"I say we go for it," Athena answered. "No matter what happens we can't get Mephiles get away with this."

"…Chaos is hurting…" Maria said with a grim face. "I can feel it. Mephiles is hurting Chaos. We must stop him at once!"

Breezy bore a look of determination, a look that that made her appear like a female version of her father, "Then we'll save Chaos!" she nodded.

The trio jumped into the lakebed and landed in the middle of the Emeralds. The formed a circle, held hands and closed their eyes. They focused their awesome will on the Emeralds, causing them to react. The Emeralds slowly regained their colors as they floated in the air and began to spin. The speed of the spin became faster until the jewels became a multi-colored circle and Chaos Energy poured into their bodies, a bright light bubble expanding outward. The bubble burst, and pure Chaos Energy rocketed skyward. All was forced to shield their eyes as the sudden burst of power erupted. When everything cleared, they could see three super charged girls hovering over the lakebed.

Breezy's fur was now pure golden and her eyes blood red. Her fixed up shirt was yellow and her jacket and pants were black. The wind swirls of her legwarmers were also black. Her sneakers were now in a shade of red. Her jacket and quills floated from the energy of her aura.

Breezy had become Super Breezy.

Maria's fur was now in a platinum color and her eyes turned blood red. The blue hues of her dress and boots turned red and black. Her dreads floated from her ascended power.

Maria had become Super Maria.

Athena's fur was now burning pink and her eyes turned blood red. The colors of her outfit turned red and orange. Her hair flowed with her aura, which was in the appearance of fire.

Athena had become Super Athena.

"Whoa!" Marisa gasped.

"Amazing!" Larcen gaped.

"Wow, you look awesome!" Daisy cheered.

"Wow… this new power…" Super Breezy gaped as she looked at her hands, "So this is what the power of the Emeralds feels like?"

"That right," Violet nodded. "But this is just the first level of Controlled Chaos. There are other powers of the Chaos Emerald that you can unlock, but right now you know what you need to do."

"This is it guys! Time to take care of this once and for all!" Super Breezy nodded as she and super friends flew into the sky.

"Wish us luck!" Super Athena winked as they blasted away.

"Best of luck girls," Elise whispered as they watched them fly to stop SolChaos.

* * *

Thunder and lighting roared as the trio continued to fly through the rain and clouds. Thanks to their increased speed, the winds and rain were nothing that they couldn't handle.

"How much farther?" Super Breezy yelled.

"Just a little more, we're almost there!" Super Maria answered, looking through the clouds. Then, she spotted something, "There! There it is!"

Just beneath them, they saw the unholy wyvern still flying. Where it was going, they had no idea. But whatever its destination was, they intend to put a stop to it!

"Let's roll, girls!" Super Breezy commanded. All three girls dove at SolChaos like WWII fighters and streaked toward it in flashes of gold, platinum and pink. As soon as they got close to it, Super Maria cupped her hands and produced blue energy. She shot it out and struck SolChaos. The monster turned around and roared, showing that they got its attention.

"Mephiles!" Super Breezy shouted. "This time we settle this!"

"We won't allow you to use Chaos like this!" Super Maria added.

"We're going to finish what our parents started years ago!" Super Athena finished.

SolChaos didn't seem to agree with them one bit. He opened his mouth and out came a thin laser streaking right at them. The girls yelped as they managed themselves over the laser as it passed them.

"All right, now it's a fight!" Super Athena shouted. "You guys ready?"

"You know I am!" Super Breezy said with a thumbs up.

"Ready!" Maria nodded.

"Yea!" Super Athena yelled as they flew at the waiting SolChaos.

SolChaos didn't waste any time in starting its move. The markings on its wings glowed bright as it summoned huge dark orbs of bone crushing pressure. The orbs started to orbit around SolChaos, offering a bit of defense.

"We can't let those things touch us!" Super Athena warned.

"Then we need to try our best to go around them!" Super Breezy summarized.

Following her word of advice, the two girls followed their unofficial leader through the deadly mine field. Super Breezy, being the fastest, managed pretty well, while the other two did well on keeping up. They twisted, turned and even made barrel rolls if needed. Had this not been the final battle, the trio would have seen fit to enjoy themselves. However, one of the balls that they just passed started to swell slightly. And then, it blew up in a shower of purple energy.

"Oh my! Look out!" Super Maria shouted as she saw that happen.

The girls began to amp up their speed, narrowly missing the falling blasts. But they weren't done yet. Soon, more balls started to swell and blow up. They twisted and turned before making out of the mine field and confronted SolChaos.

"Now we got you!" Super Breezy declared.

"You don't wanna jinx, Breeze!" Super Athena warned.

Too late for that. SolChaos opened its powerful maw and began to spit red shots of lethal power at neck-breaking speeds. The girls ducked, dodged, flipped and split from the path of the deadly rays.

Super Maria darted from another shot that was aimed at her, and glared at SolChaos, "This has to stop!" she crossed her arms in front of her chest and her fists began to flash in all the colors of the rainbow, _"Rainbow Brite Stardust!"_ she yelled as she threw her hands forward and blasted out seven shots of rainbow light. The exploding blasts ran across SolChaos, causing it to shriek in pain.

"All right! You got in some damage!" Super Breezy smiled.

"We just need to get Chaos away from him," Super Maria stated, "Nothing fancy, just effective."

"Right, we gotcha!" Super Athena said.

SolChaos continued to fly around, while the super trio gave chase. The red marks on its wings glowed once more and red portals opened up behind SolChaos and space debris of all sorts started to zoom at them. Super Athena had the persistent mind to grab them with her psychic power and throw them back at SolChaos. Super Breezy simply plowed through the trash and bounced them back. Super Maria fired chaotic shots to destroy any trash that came at her. Since SolChaos was moving back and forth, they didn't succeed in hitting him.

Turning around again, SolChaos reared its head up and let another haunting shriek echo into the clouds. As soon as the echo halted, purple meteors came down from the covered sky, aimed right at them.

"A meteor shower!" Super Maria gasped.

"Let's haul some serious haul!" Super Breezy said.

The rest wordlessly agreed. They continued to swoop to and fro to escape the meteors. Super Maria used her powers to break most of the bigger meteors into pieces. When a really big meteor appeared from the sky, Super Athena didn't hesitate to halt it with her psychokinesis and, with a loud grunt, threw back and SolChaos. Direct hit! SolChaos squawked in pain.

"My turn!" Super Breezy made a short flip before streaking at SolChaos at lighting speeds. Before the monster could react, Super Breezy curled into a ball and slammed herself across SolChaos jaw so hard, it would have been enough to break a lesser monster's jaw into dust. SolChaos screeched in rage, but she was far from finished. She smashed into the jaw again with another thunderous smash, going down, and did it once more on her way back up. Then she flew around SolChaos and began to fly around in imposable speeds. SolChaos was having a difficult time trying to keep up. Soon, a tornado appeared around it and captured SolChaos inside. When Super Breezy flew away, the tornado exploded, causing more damage for SolChaos.

"There, that should deal in some more damage," Super Breezy said with a smile, reuniting with her friends.

"Yeah, but he's far from done," Super Athena said, pointing.

How right she was, SolChaos began to ascend into the air and started waving its wings faster. This made the wind move more intently and green arcs fly out of the wings. The girls started to feel themselves being blown backwards, so they quickly started to accelerate, avoiding the arcs that came at them.

"Man! So much wind!" Super Athena grunted.

"Just a little longer! Then we can strike back!" Super Maria shouted.

Accelerating was all the girls could do at the moment. SolChaos noticed that they were keeping up. Not having any of it, it opened its huge maw and fired a pink laser at them. The girls had to move up and down as the laser went back and forth. After getting to a considerable reach, Super Athena shot a fireball that, oddly enough, was green in color. This was due to her fire being purified with Chaos Energy. It hit in a fiery green blast, forcing SolChaos to go back from the force. The winds halted and the girls shot after him from the speed.

"Have some dessert!" Super Athena shouted, raising her hands as a huge green portal appeared right over them, _"Crematorium!"_ Out of the portal came a swarm of green fireballs that were as large as houses. The fireballs crashed into SolChaos, sending more pain on the water wyvern. It screeched and thrashed as the firestorm bombarded on him.

"Yeah! Good job!" Super Breezy cheered.

"Now let's get him!" Super Maria nodded.

The girls began to fly after SolChaos in beams of light. However, the sun mark on the beast's back began to glow. In a blink of an eye, it was gone. The girls stopped their flight started to look around.

"He can use Chaos Control!" Super Breezy exclaimed. "Where did he go?"

"Look up!" Super Maria pointed.

The other two looked right above them and found SolChaos flying in circles like a vulture examining its pray. The marks on the wings glowed once more and the purple balls appeared in orbit again.

"Here we go again," Super Athena sighed.

"The faster we stop him, the sooner we save Chaos!" Super Maria said. "Let's go!"

The girls shot up like rockets and zoomed around the balls once more. Once they got to the midpoint, the balls started to swell and pop again. After a series of evasive maneuvers, they met SolChaos once more.

"Cleaver the way you used Chaos Control like that," Super Breezy frowned, "But you'll have to do better than that to shake us off!"

SolChaos made an ominous growl that sounded a lot like a snigger. It rose its wings up and then flapped them down hard, causing four tornados to appear around it. Each tornado was made up of four elements, fire, water, light, and darkness.

"You just had to say that," Super Athena glared at her.

"Eheh… oops," Super Breezy sweatdroped.

"Never mind that," Super Maria spoke, "Let's find a way to get those tornados to stop!"

"Right!"

The girls separated to look for any openings. Super Breezy went up top, Super Maria went down below, and Super Athena looked around. Though what they didn't expect was for the tornados to be armed. An arm from the water tornado appeared, grabbed Super Athena, and whipped her around before throwing her aside. A stream of flames appeared from the fire tornado knocked Super Breezy from her flight before she had time to react. The light and dark tornados fired beams at Super Maria. She darted left and right to avoid the beams, but one of them hit her and sent her back. The trio ended up crashing their heads into each other.

"Wow! He's getting serious!" Super Breezy panted.

"We still need to find a way somehow," Super Maria grimaced.

"Ah! Here he comes again!" Super Athena pointed.

The four tornados started to shoot out their own blasts at them. The three scattered around to avoid getting hit. But with the way things were going right now, SolChaos had now gotten the upper hand.

* * *

Elise suddenly grimaced and narrowed her eyes as she felt something. "Something is wrong," she spoke, "It appears that the girls are having more trouble than it seems."

"How much trouble?" Samson asked.

"Well, this is the first time that they are in their Super Transformations, so I would say…" Elise paused, "A lot."

"Uh oh," Larcen frowned.

"But… what can we do about it?" Cream asked. "Even if they left the Chaos Emeralds here, we can't use them. The only one among us that can is Emerl, and his transformation wouldn't do much good."

"In that case, how about letting someone who can?"

Elise turned around to find the source of the new voice. She smiled, "I knew you would come!"

* * *

Back in the stormy skies, the girls were having their hands full. The tornados were still shooting out all sorts of attacks. The three were still having a hard time trying to avoid everything that came at them. All in the while, SolChaos was cozy in his protective cell.

"Arg! Isn't there anything we can do?" Super Breezy yelled in frustration as she avoided another light blast. "He's just floating there mocking us!"

"Every time we come close, the tornados will just blow us away!" Super Athena shouted, knocking a fire blast out of her way. "There has to be something!"

"This is becoming most difficult," Super Maria growled. "We could surely use some help right now…"

And God said, 'Ask and you shall receive.'

Blue lighting blots suddenly shot down from the sky and hit SolChaos directly. The monster roared as it absentmindedly deactivated the tornado attack. But the punishment didn't end there as more lighting electrocuted it in full force. This was very painful for SolChaos, being made out of water and all.

"Wow! What's going on? Where did that come from?" Super Athena gasped.

"That isn't normal thunder…" Super Maria observed.

"Hey girls! Need some adult supervision?"

The girls looked up to were the voice came from. Slowly descending before them was none other than Super Sonic, gold fur and all.

"Pops!" Super Breezy smiled as she flew up at him. "Pops! You made it!"

"Of course I did, kiddo," Super Sonic chuckled. "Can't let my only daughter and her best friends handle a cosmic terror on their first try alone, can I?"

"Hey Uncle!" Super Athena said as she reached him, "Where are our other dads?"

"They should be here…"

"MEPHILES!"

"And that would be Shadow."

Right on que, Super Shadow appeared from the clouds with an enraged look on his face. He raised his right arm over his head and red energy began glowing from it. "How DARE you hurt my little girl! _Shadow Chaos!"_ He swung his arm down sharply and thousands of red spears appeared out of the scratch mark portal. Each shot hit SolChaos with an explosion, causing only more pain for it. It screeched as it began to tumble in midair.

"It's time to straighten the record!" Super Silver yelled as he sped from the clouds. He stretched out his hand and royal blue energy began to power out of it, _"Silver Star!"_ Super Silver roared as he shot the ball out.

SolChaos REALLY didn't want to be at the receiving end of another attack, so he had the mind to Chaos Control upward, missing the Silver Star completely. Super Silver, however, was prepared. With a yelled, he shot both his hands up, and the Silver Star mimicked his movements. SolChaos looked down and gawked as it saw the approaching ball of light. It hit and a large flashing explosion happened. When it died down, SolChaos was seen seething at everything that was now happening.

Super Sonic wore a grim frown, clenching his fists as he eyed SolChaos, "Take this!" He raised his hand up, palm opened, and produced a disk of blue electricity. The disk flickered with the power it represented, _"Sonic Overdrive!"_ he yelled as he hurled the disk out. It homed in on the recovering SolChaos and made a direct hit. Blue lightning flashed as the beast was forced to take it in. With those three attacks thrown at it, there wasn't much more it could take.

"I'd say he's ripped and primed for an exorcism," Super Shadow said.

"No arguments here," Super Silver nodded.

"No problem," Super Sonic agreed. "But how about we let the girls do this?"

"What do you mean?" Super Silver asked him.

"It's their first time in their Super Transformations. Only natural that they learn," Super Sonic reasoned.

The other fathers looked at him quizly. Then they nodded. They didn't want to admit it, but he was right in a way.

"Good," he smiled. "Are you girls ready?"

"All the time!" Super Breezy chirped.

"Always!" Super Athena nodded.

"Absolutely!" Super Maria answered.

"Let's move!" Super Sonic shouted. The other super powered heroes followed him and went for the recovering SolChaos.

"We'll hold him down while you girls rip Mephiles out of there!" Super Silver shouted.

"Right!" Super Athena said.

The fathers instantly caught up to SolChaos and held down on its wings and back. SolChaos started to thrash about, but it was too weak to throw them off now. It could have used Chaos Control, but Super Shadow negated it from down that.

"Now girls!" Super Shadow shouted, keeping his glowing hands on the monster's back. "Destroy the crystal on his head!"

The girls obeyed and went for the head. Super Maria was first. She rushed in and slammed her fist into the crystal. It started to crack.

"And again!" Super Athena exclaimed as she went in and smashed her fist into the crystal. This time, more cracks appeared on it. Super Athena gathered up her power and ripped it inside and out. That was when something… er, someone began tumbling into the air before coming to a stop. That someone was Mephiles.

"Wh…what?" Mephiles gaped as he looked around. "How can this-!" His words died down as he saw something intimidating at the moment. There was Super Breezy right above him, her hands on her hips and a deep frown on her face.

"No… no! I've had enough!" Mephiles panted, forming a Blitz Strike in his hand, ready to attack. He threw it at her, but Super Breezy slapped it aside. As said before, Mephiles was slightly weaker than a Super Transformation. Super Breezy then cupped her hands over her head and blue energy began to pool in her hands.

"No! I am pure darkness! I am eternal nothingness! You are just a mere girl! You can't be doing this!" Mephiles stuttered, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Oh yes I can!" Super Breezy smiled. "And if you're not down with that, then I've got two words for ya: SUCK IT! _Trouble in Paradise!"_ And with that, she let loose a blue blast with trailing stars. Mephiles could only gape as the blast collided into him and plowed him back down to earth. The blast fell like a glowing meteor descending from space before it smashed into the ground with lights and tremors. A huge gust blew as the blast sank into the ground. After what seemed like almost a minute, the blast died down. Silent rain resumed. Down in the deep crater Mephiles was straggling to get on his legs. However, he couldn't even get on his two feet, and was only able to crawl a few inches.

"To think… that I… I would end up in… this condition…!" he gasped painfully. "This… cannot end here…!" He didn't have enough energy to even move. He had to lie low and regain his power. To that end, he collapsed and switched to his shadow form, sinking into the ground.

* * *

Moments later, the father and daughters were having a well deserved **proper** reunion on the ground. Sonic was holding he little girl in a crushing hug that she gladly returned. He was proud of everything thing she and her friends did. Maybe Amy was right, she was just like him.

"Daddy!" the light purple hedgehog exclaimed, laughing as she hugged him back. "Daddy, you're crushing me!"

Sonic chuckled in slight embarrassment, setting her down. "Sorry squirt. It's just so much happened the past few days, ya know. I always imaged that I'd have to hand down the hero gantlet to you. I just didn't think it be so soon."

"Yeah, I know," Breezy smiled. "But now I feel like taking a vacation for a while."

Sonic laughed. "Comes with the territory."

Shadow was happily hugging his own daughter. This was forgoing his usual personality, but he didn't care. The black hedgehog had his arms tight around Maria, as though he never wanted to let her go again.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart!" he muttered in her ear. "You had to go through all that trouble just for us! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, daddy," Maria smiled with a sigh. Then she had an almost regretful, yet adorable look on her face. "Daddy… Mephiles manipulated us… like he manipulated you… if that didn't happen, Chaos would have never-"

"Don't worry your pretty little hair. All that matters now is that you three are safe and Mephiles is going to pay," Shadow informed, "This time he has gone too far."

"You may need to wait on that," Silver called out.

The four of them joined Silver and Athena at the carter where Mephiles landed and looked down. Sure enough, it was empty.

"Well, now that he's no longer trapped in the Scepter of Darkness, I'm sure he'll show his ugly face again real soon," Sonic shrugged. "What's important is that we won and you guys are heroes!"

"Heroines," Silver corrected.

"Same difference."

"Well, it was really cool," Athena smiled. She tugged Silver's arm, prompting him to look down, "Did I do good, papa?"

"You did great, firefly," Silver smiled, taking the laughing cat on his shoulders.

Sounds of several feet racing in the wet dirt were heard, and the rest of their group of adults and youths came hurrying to them. Breezy grinned broadly and went to her old and new friends. Athena and Maria were not far behind. Even Moana was joining in, feeling very intrigued about their powers.

"Breezy!" Daisy exclaimed incredulously as she hugged her, "You were all amazing!"

"That was some serious ownage back there," Larcen grinned.

"We couldn't believe it!" Moana added, awestruck. "You were so fast, so strong..."

"You opened up a huge can of whoop-ass on him!" Jewels smiled.

"I hate to admit it," Zed remarked, smiling some. Breezy slightly admitted that Zed looked cute when he smiled, "But you guys defiantly kicked major ass."

Breezy, Athena and Maria looked at all their friends and single rival, old, new, younger and older. "Well…" Breezy blushed, smirking, "You guys can't say that you didn't help."

"Yes, we all had our own parts in this. We did it!" Maria smiled charmingly.

"Thanks you guys," Athena grinned, "You were all a big help!"

The youths continued to discuss the incredible events that took place. No doubt, the adults were discussing the same thing some feet away. Only a selective few, namely Eggman Nega, Snively and the other pirates, watch in silence with approving smiles.

And then, Tikal noticed something falling from the sky. She gasped and pointed, "CHAOS!"

Everyone gasped as they saw a very big rain drop fall out of the sky and landed with a gut wrenching splat some distance away. Not waste a beat, everyone quickly made their way to the puddle. No one seemed to notice that the rain was starting to lighten up.

Tikal was already on her knees when she got to him, "Chaos? Are you alright? What happened?"

The puddle lied motionless. Only for a while that bubbles started to appear on the bubble. Then the puddle started to rise. Then it took shape. It took the shape of a tall humanoid with webs, flippers, and glowing green eyes. It looked at everyone, seemingly curious.

Tikal got up and walked up to Chaos Zero. "Chaos? Mephiles didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

Chaos Zero looked at her and responded with bubble sounds. Tikal looked surprised.

"What? You don't remember anything? You don't even remember Mephiles?"

Bubbles.

"I'm guessing it's an effect that Mephiles had on him," Shadow guessed. "Mephiles was made to combine with Iblis, not Chaos."

"Well… perhaps it's just for the best," Tikal smiled as she hugged the water beast. He happily returned it, glad to see his friend again. "We're just glad to see you safe now, Chaos."

Everyone gathered around him to give him their good words. Everyone one but Eggman Nega that is. He stood back and watched before turning his back and walking. Sonic saw him and went after him.

"Where are you going now?" he asked.

"As I said before, hedgehog?" Eggman Nega said, turning his head around. "This is the only time that I assisted you. From here on out, we return as rivals. Next time we see each other, I will not hold back!"

Sonic simply laughed, "That's fine, Nega, because I won't hold anything back either. If you insist on returning to wreak havoc on this world, then I will return to stop you, and I won't be alone either," as if on que, his smiling daughter walked next to him. Sonic warped an arm around her shoulder. "You and you nephew can just look out for the next generation hero: Breezy the Hedgehog.

Well, Sonic, you and your daughters had stay on your toes. I still plain on getting my revenge one way or another. This is only the beginning…"

The clouds began to clear, and the setting sun smiled on the world. The silhouettes showed in the light.

A symbol of a new generation of heroes.

The children of the atom.

"How right you are, doc. How right you are."


End file.
